Banks drive European stocks to record high as markets recover from rocky start
THE Stoxx 600 index climbed to a record on Monday, propelled by strong gains in financial and healthcare stocks as investors looked past commodity market turbulence at the start of a week packed with corporate earnings.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 finished 1 per cent higher at 617.31 points, recovering from a weaker opening as the session progressed.
After opening lower, European markets gradually recovered throughout the session as an earlier selloff in precious metals began to ease.
The downturn in gold and silver had initially forced investors to liquidate other positions to cover losses, weighing on broader risk appetite. But as the metals sell-off stabilised, most sub-indexes turned positive.
“Markets shrugged off some of the commodity selling and Europe came in with a much more positive tone,” said Steve Sosnick, chief market analyst at Interactive Brokers.
“The rally was partly due to calendar effects - it’s typical to see fresh capital enter markets on the first day of a new month.”
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Banking stocks lead gains
The euro Stoxx volatility index also fell about 3 points.
Banking stocks led the gains with a 2 per cent rise, trading at their highest level since 2008.
Meanwhile, the healthcare sector advanced 1.3 per cent, with AstraZeneca up 3.2 per cent after the pharmaceutical giant completed its move to the New York Stock Exchange from the Nasdaq listing.
Basic resources were leading sectoral declines with a drop of as much as 2 per cent, before turning positive to close with 0.8 per cent gains.
Gold and silver extended their losses, after increased CME margin requirements added to the selling pressure following last week’s sell-off sparked by Kevin Warsh’s nomination as the incoming Federal Reserve chair. Investors see Warsh as more hawkish, boosting the dollar and so reducing the metals’ allure for holders of other currencies.
Shares in Danish jewellery maker Pandora rose 9.2 per cent to top the benchmark index, driven higher by the slump in silver prices.
On the downside, the aerospace and defence sub-index was down 0.4 per cent.
The Stoxx 600 had a strong start to 2026 and has added 4.2 per cent so far this year, outperforming the US benchmark S&P 500’s roughly 2 per cent gain.
Much of Europe’s outperformance has been underpinned by rallying commodity and defence stocks, and also assisted by a few positive corporate earnings updates.
Earnings season is entering full-swing, with around 30 per cent of Stoxx 600 constituents set to report earnings this week.
Among other important movers, BFF plunged 45 per cent after the Italian bank announced its CEO was stepping down and cut 2026 financial targets.
French IT company Capgemini gained 2.4 per cent after saying it would sell its US subsidiary Capgemini Government Solutions. REUTERS
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