European markets rose on Monday as investors digested key points from this year’s Munich Security Conference.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 was up 0.2% as of 3:15 p.m. in London (10:15 a.m. ET), with major stock exchanges and most sectors in the region in positive territory.
Trade of Dassault Systemes Shares were briefly halted on Monday after the company’s sharp fall. The pause came as broker AlphaValue lowered its rating from Buy to Reduce, amid renewed concerns over AI monetization and a “worrying loss of momentum” within the French software group. Its shares were last seen down nearly 9% in afternoon trading.
Geopolitics and defense have returned to center stage as investors focused this year on the Munich security conference. The event saw several European leaders and policymakers reiterate the need to increase defense spending to accelerate the continent’s strategic autonomy, with discussions on a common nuclear shield.
Despite the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio striking clearly your most conciliatory Toward European allies, in his speech Saturday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz acknowledged a “deep division” in the transatlantic partnership, warning that the post-World War II rules-based order “no longer exists.”
Also speaking at the MSC, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country would be ready to join the EU by 2027 and said an accession date should be included in any peace deal with Russia.
Meanwhile, the British lender NatWest Group gained 4.3% as it launched a £750 million ($1.02 billion) share buyback program on Monday.
Elsewhere, European mining stocks saw some of the biggest declines in morning trading.
Rio Tinto lost 2% after the multinational mining company suspended work at its Simandou iron ore mine in Guinea following a fatal accident at the SimFer project on Sunday evening.
Ahead of its latest earnings update on Tuesday, BHP Group fell 1.2%, while Glencorewhich was set to merge with Rio Tinto until the merger was abandoned earlier this month, also lost ground, falling more than 1%. Fresnillo fell by 1%, and Anglo-American was lower by almost 1%.
The FTSE Industrial Metals and Mining Index was last seen down 1.8%.
In corporate profits, Airbus, Nestle And Renault are among the names reporting their results later this week.
In Asia, Japan Nikkei grew by 0.2%, while the country’s economic growth stood at 0.2% annualized for the December quarter, lagging the 1.6% expected. Exchanges were rare elsewhere in the regionas markets in China, South Korea and Taiwan were closed for the Lunar New Year holiday.
American stock markets are closed on Monday to mark Presidents’ Day.