Peace Talks Helped to Boost European Stocks
European stocks strengthened their positions on Tuesday as another round of Ukraine-Russia talks got underway in Turkey.
The pan-European STOXX 600 rose 1.8% by mid-afternoon, with autos jumping 4.5% to lead gains as all sectors as well as major bourses traded in positive territory.
When it comes to individual share price movement, Storskogen Group advanced more than 12% to lead the European blue-chip index, while German chemicals firm K+S dropped 5%.
The gain in the region came as investors in Europe monitored the war in Ukraine. Importantly, face-to-face talks between representatives of Ukraine and Russia are set to continue this week, with delegations from both countries arriving in Turkey as talks resumed on Tuesday.
U.S. stocks on Monday
U.S. stocks rose on the first days of the week as investors looked to build on two straight weeks of gains.
The S&P 500 continued its journey to the top, as investors shook off recession concerns and bid tech shares higher.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 94.65 points to 34,955.89. The S&P 500 added 0.7% to 4,575.52. On Monday, the Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.3% to 14,354.90, thanks to an 8% jump in Tesla. Notably, the S&P 500 hit its high of the season as crude oil hit its low of the day, down more than 11%.
On Monday, oil prices declined following their recent surge due to the geopolitical conflict. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures dropped about 7% to $105.96. Brent crude futures declined nearly 7% to $112.48 per barrel.
Energy stocks fell alongside the price of oil. Chevron and Exxon Mobil dropped 1.8% and 2.8% respectively.
Tesla reached great results on Monday. It led technology shares after the company said it wants to split its stock to pay a stock dividend. Other tech shares which as a group have been among the worst performers so far this year, rose as well with Amazon and Microsoft higher.
Bank stocks declined on Monday as the yield curve flattened. JPMorgan dropped 0.7%, and Wells Fargo declined 1.4%.
