European equities markets saw gains on Monday.
The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was 0.54 percent higher to 1,481.43, with Madrid’s IBEX adding 0.22 percent to 14,269.1, the Dax up 0.4 percent to 7,407.53 in Frankfurt, and the Paris CAC-40 gaining 0.67 percent to 5,399.38.
Utilities were mostly higher.
The exception was RWE (FWB: RWE), which fell 1.2 percent to €80.72 in Frankfurt.
In Spain, Iberdrola (IBEX-35: IBE) added 0.6 percent to €39.27.
Among Paris-listed utilities Suez (Euronext: SZE; NYSE: SZE) was 1.56 percent higher to €37.65 and EDF (Euronext: EEN) was 2.18 percent higher to €70.87, while power generator Alstom (Euronext: ALO) had the best day on the CAC-40 with a gain of 3.54 percent to €122.37.
The telecommunications sector was also higher.
Spain’s Telefonica (IBEX-35: TEF; Euronext: TEF; NYSE: TEF; LSE: TDE; FWB: TEF; TYO: 9481) was 0.4 percent higher to €17.43 on the news that its O2 unit in German will drop its Internet services fee to a flat monthly rate.
Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext: ALU; NYSE: ALU; TYO: 6687) was up 1.81 percent to €7.87, while Deutsche Telekom (FWB: DTE; NYSE: DT; LSE: DEU; TYO: 9496) gained 2.12 percent to €13.45. The steel sector made gains.
ThyssenKrupp (FWB: TKA; LSE: THK) gained 2.05 percent to €40.88, while Mittal Steel (Euronext: MT; NYSE: MT) was 3.43 percent higher to €41.28.
Banks were mixed.
While HypoVereinsbank (FWB: HVM) was 1.1 percent higher to €40.21, Deutsche Bank (FWB: DBK; NYSE: DB) was the worst performer on the Dax with a drop of 1.45 percent to €93.30.
On the CAC-40, Societe Generale (Euronext: GLE) fell 0.18 percent to €117.95.
The worst performance on the session on the CAC-40, however, came from Air France (Euronext: AF; NYSE: AKH), which fell 0.8 percent to €27.30.
Deutsche Boerse (FWB: DB1) had the best day on the Dax with a gain of 3.51 percent to €79.75.