European markets open higher as traders assess changed U.S. political landscape

Holly Ellyatt@HOLLYELLYATT

LONDON — European stocks opened higher Monday as global markets reacted to the news that U.S. President Joe Biden had dropped out of the U.S. presidential race.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index opened 0.5% higher with only the oil and gas, travel and leisure, retail and insurance sectors in negative territory.

Global traders are watching the U.S. political landscape closely after Biden dropped out of the presidential race on Sunday and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee.

The move was broadly expected after Biden’s poor debate performance in June and amid polls showing the increasing likelihood of an election win by former President Donald Trump in November.

S&P 500 futures inched up Sunday night after the broad market index suffered its worst weekly losses since April last week as investors rotated out of megacap technology stocks for smaller names.

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Asia-Pacific markets fell overnight, while China’s central bank unexpectedly cut rates, with the short-term 7-day reverse repurchase rate lowered to 1.7% from 1.8%.

Earnings come from Ryanair Monday, and data releases include the latest Spanish consumer confidence figures.

Source : cnbc