Closing Mar11

In European Equity Markets the pan-European Stoxx 600 index closed up by 0.76 percent with almost every sector in the black. Banks were in the spotlight with the sector trading 1.5 percent higher. Commerzbank rose to the top of the benchmark, up over 7 percent. This was as Deutsche Bank reportedly agreed to hold merger talks with its rival after CEO Christian Sewing dropped his opposition to the deal. Elsewhere, shares of Norwegian Air Shuttle were down around 6.4 percent after the company posted weaker-than-expected passenger income.

In Currency Markets sterling rose on Monday in volatile trade as investors braced for parliamentary votes on Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit’s deal in less than three weeks. Sterling was up 0.6 percent at $1.3092 after falling in the previous eight consecutive sessions. It was also up half a percent against the euro at 85.89 pence. Earlier in the session, the pound fell after a Sun Newspaper report said May would change Tuesday’s key vote on her Brexit deal to a less decisive provisional vote. May’s spokesman then said the vote would go ahead as planned.

In Commodities Markets oil prices rose 1 percent on Monday, lifted by comments from Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih that an end to OPEC-led supply cuts was unlikely before June. Brent crude futures were up 65 cents, or 1 percent, to $66.39 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 52 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $56.59 a barrel. Falih told Reuters on Sunday it would be too early to change a production curb pact agreed by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies including Russia before the group’s meeting in June.

In US Equity Markets stocks rose after five straight sessions of declines on Monday boosted by technology stocks, however a fall in the shares of the world’s largest plane-maker after a second deadly crash in just five months capped gains on the blue-chip Dow. Apple Inc rose 3.1 percent and was the biggest boost to the benchmark S&P 500 and Nasdaq indexes after Bank of America Merrill Lynch upgraded the iPhone maker’s shares to “buy” from “neutral”. The S&P 500 was up 1.06 percent, at 2,772.25 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 1.47 percent, at 7,517.27.

In Bond Markets Euro zone bond yields dipped on Monday after German industrial production fell in January, adding weight to market bets on a slowing European economy and the European Central Bank’s dovish policy stance. Germany’s 10-year bond yield, the benchmark for the region, slipped 1.5 basis points to 0.06 percent. Other euro zone yields were also lower on the day, with Belgian 10-year yields a shade away from a one-year low at 0.54 percent. But Portuguese 10-year bond yields fell over 4 bps to 1.311 percent, extending recent falls to its lowest in at least 25 years.