By Investors Hub
European stocks have moved higher on Monday as geopolitical tensions faded and investors looked ahead to a slew of U.S. data releases this week for hints on the interest rate outlook.
While the German DAX Index is just above the unchanged line, the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.3 percent and the U.K.?s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.4 percent.
Sainsbury shares have soared in London after the retailer agreed to a 13.3 billion pound merger with Walmart’s ASDA and said it plans to maintain both brands.
Advertising giant WPP Group has also jumped after reporting better-than-expected earnings for the first quarter.
French hotel group Accor has advanced after it signed a pact to buy Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts for a cash amount of 560 million Swiss francs or 482 million euros.
In economic news, German retail sales dropped by real 0.6 percent month-on-month in March, bigger than the revised 0.2 percent decrease in February, official data showed. This was the fourth consecutive decrease in sales.
The U.K. private sector output grew at the weakest pace since late 2016, the growth indicator from the Confederation of British Industry showed.
The balance of firms reporting a rise in output came in at +3 percent in the three months to April, the weakest growth since September 2016, down from +8 percent in the three months to March.
