Pakistan Army Chief and Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir (3rd R) meets Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi (3rd L) upon his arrival in Islamabad on April 25, 2026.
– | Afp | Getty Images
LONDON — European stocks started the new week on a broadly positive footing as investors keep an eye on developments in peace talks between Iran and the United States and look forward to central bank meetings.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 was almost 1% higher at the start of trading, with a majority of sectors in positive territory and most major exchanges making gains.
Germany DAX led the way shortly after 8 a.m., up 0.4%, while the United Kingdom FTSE the index fell almost 0.1%. that of France CAC40 opened up 0.2%, and that of Italy MIB FTSE was also up 0.2%.
Oil and gas was the leading sector, up 0.6% thanks to rising energy pricesfollowed by retail stocks, which were up more than 0.5%. In contrast, food and beverage stocks lost 0.5%, with chemicals falling 0.4% on concerns about lingering supply chain bottlenecks around the Strait of Hormuz.
Brent crudethe global oil benchmark, rose more than 2% on Monday, hitting $107.46 a barrel, as the U.S. West Texas Intermediate rose 1.8% to $96.14.
Iran reportedly made a new proposal to the United States on Sunday aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz and ending the war, as well as postponing nuclear negotiations until a later date. Axios reported on Sundayciting a US official and two sources with knowledge of the matter.
This comes after US President Donald Trump on Saturday abandoned plans to send US envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Islamabad, Pakistan, for negotiations with Iran.
“Too much time wasted traveling, too much work!” the president wrote in a post to Truth Socialadding: “No one knows who’s in charge, including them. Besides, we have all the cards, they don’t! If they want to talk, they just have to call!!!”
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said this weekend that no meetings between Tehran and Washington were planned.
Global market attention will focus on central banks later this week, with the US Federal Reserve, European Central Bank (ECB) and Bank of England (BOE) all due to hold crucial meetings as the war upends expectations for inflation and growth.
The Fed’s policy decision Wednesday could mark Jerome Powell’s final meeting as chair before Kevin Warsh takes office in May. The Ministry of Justice has decided to abandon criminal investigation in Powell on Friday, forcing Senator Thom Tillis to end Warsh’s confirmation block.
The ECB and BOE both release their latest monetary policy decisions on Thursday, with economists expecting central banks to hold their benchmark interest rates at their respective meetings this month but leave the door open for hikes later this year.
On Monday, investors will keep an eye on developments in the United States after the incident of a man armed with several weapons. loaded a security checkpoint to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington, DC, on Saturday, before being apprehended by U.S. Secret Service agents.
The suspected shooter was identified later Saturday as Cole Allen of Torrance, California. He is being held by authorities as they investigate the shooting.
The results will be released on Monday by Deutsche Börse and German consumer confidence data from GfK will be released.
— CNBC’s Azhar Sukri, Yun Li and Lee Ying Shan contributed to this market report.