Pakistan Army Commander and Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir (3R), who arrived in Islamabad on April 25, 2026, meets with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi (3R).
– | AFP | Getty Images
LONDON — European stock markets started the week on a largely positive note as investors focused on developments in peace talks between Iran and the United States and looked ahead to central bank meetings.
pan-european Stocks 600 It was up almost 1% in early trading, with most sectors in positive territory and most major stock exchanges rising.
german dachshund After 8am, it rose 0.4% to take the lead, while the UK FTSE The index fell almost 0.1%. french CAC40 Italy opens 0.2% higher FTSE MIB It also rose 0.2%.
Oil and gas rose 0.6% as energy prices rose, followed by retail stocks, which rose more than 0.5%. In contrast, chemicals fell 0.4% and food and drink stocks fell 0.5% on concerns about continued supply chain bottlenecks around the Strait of Hormuz.
brent crude oilCrude oil prices, the world oil benchmark, rose more than 2% on Monday to $107.46 per barrel, following U.S. crude prices. west texas intermediate It rose 1.8% to $96.14.
On Sunday, Iran reportedly made new offers to the United States to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, end the war and postpone nuclear negotiations to a later date, Axios news agency reported on Sunday, citing a U.S. official and two sources familiar with the matter.
This comes after US President Donald Trump on Saturday scrapped plans to send special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Islamabad, Pakistan, for talks with Iran.
“Wasted time traveling and too much work!” the president added in a post on Truth Social. “No one knows who is in charge, including them. Also, we have all the cards and they have none! If you want to talk, just call!!!”
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Bakaei said over the weekend that no talks between Iran and the United States were planned.
Global markets’ attention will be on central banks later this week as the US Federal Reserve, European Central Bank (ECB) and Bank of England (BOE) are scheduled to hold important meetings as the war upends inflation and growth expectations.
Wednesday’s Fed policy decision could be Jerome Powell’s last meeting as chairman before Kevin Warsh is expected to take over in May. The Justice Department decided Friday to drop its criminal investigation into Powell, and Sen. Thom Tillis ended his bid to block Warsh’s confirmation.
The ECB and BoE both announced their latest monetary policy decisions on Thursday, and economists expect the central banks to keep benchmark interest rates unchanged at their respective meetings this month, but leave open the possibility of rate hikes later this year.
Investors will be keeping an eye on developments in the United States on Monday after a man armed with multiple weapons stormed a security checkpoint at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington, D.C., on Saturday and was later arrested by U.S. Secret Service agents.
The shooting suspect was identified late Saturday as Cole Allen, of Torrance, California. He is being held by authorities pending an investigation into the shooting.
On Monday, Deutsche Börse will release its financial results and Germany’s GfK consumer confidence data will be released.
—CNBC’s Azhar Sukri, Yun Li and Lee Ying Shan contributed to this market report.
