Modupe Gbadeyanka
By Investors Hub
European stocks were broadly higher on Monday as investors shrugged off the standoff between Spain and Catalonia and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s solid election win made it tough for the Bank of Japan to scale back its stimulus.
A pullback in metals prices weighed on commodity- related stocks and financials also lost ground ahead of the ECB’s monetary policy decision due Thursday, helping limit overall gains to some extent.
The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index was up 0.4 percent at 391.56 in late opening deals after rising 0.3 percent on Friday.
The German DAX was moving up 0.6 percent, France’s CAC 40 index was adding 0.7 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 was up 0.1 percent.
Spain’s IBEX index was down 0.2 percent, dragged down by banks as the constitutional crisis in Spain over Catalonia continued.
Dutch healthcare technology company Philips rallied 1.6 percent as it reported a 12 percent rise in third-quarter core profit.
Swedish security services group Securitas jumped 3.3 percent after its Q3 organic sales topped forecasts.
British building materials group CRH climbed 2.3 percent. The company said it would go ahead with its $3.5 billion acquisition of Ash Grove Cement Company.
Engineering group GKN jumped more than 3 percent after a report that it was considering splitting itself into two companies.
Spire Healthcare climbed 12 percent after the healthcare firm said it has rejected a takeover by South African private hospitals operator Mediclinic International.
France-KLM shares rallied 1.5 percent. The Franco-Dutch airline announced that KLM has reached new pension scheme agreements with its pilot and cabin staff unions.
On the flip side, British car dealer Pendragon slumped 17 percent after a profit warning.
