EUROPE MARKETS: European Stocks Edge Higher As U.S. Political Commotion Subsides

By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch

UCB shares slide on downbeat update

European stocks logged modest gains Monday, aided in part by a merger deal in the chemicals industry.

Relative calm on the U.S. political front helped as well, after troubles there last week weighed on regional benchmarks.

Also on the radar Monday is a meeting of eurozone finance ministers and the International Monetary Fund, and investors will watch whether they can agree to provide debt relief to Greece after the country agreed to new austerity measures (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/greek-parliament-approves-new-austerity-measures-2017-05-19). In Athens, the Athex Composite was fractionally higher at 784.74.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index ) moved up 0.2% to 392.27 after briefly dipping into negative territory. Only the technology sector was losing ground, while telecom and consumer services shares marched higher, FactSet data showed.

The pan-European benchmark last week fell 1%, the first decline in four weeks, largely on a rout in global equities that followed a report that U.S. President Donald Trump tried to stop (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/trump-asked-comey-to-drop-flynn-investigation-report-2017-05-16) a Federal Bureau of Investigation probe into links between his associates and Russian officials.

"The political risk surrounding Donald Trump is beginning to subside, allowing market sentiment to improve once more. It is interesting to see markets beginning to look more settled early [Monday] as the agenda turns away from Trump's domestic woes and more towards international trade deals," said Richard Perry, market analyst at Hantec Markets, in a note.

Trump while in Saudi Arabia this weekend oversaw a signing ceremony for a $110 billion package of new arms deals. (Trump,%20Saudi%20Arabia,%20other%20Gulf%20states%20sign%20pacts%20worth%20$350%20billion%20meant%20to%20counterbalance%20Iran)

Last week's New York Times report fueled questions about the Trump administration's ability to push through tax cuts, higher fiscal spending and looser regulations. The prospect of an economic boost from the proposed changes had helped to push stocks worldwide to highs.

Read:Here's how impeachment works--and why Trump is safe for now (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/heres-how-impeachment-works---and-why-trump-is-safe-for-now-2017-05-17)

Individual indexes: Germany's DAX 30 was up less than 1 point at 12,639.35, and France's CAC 40 clung to a 0.1% rise at 5,326.71. The indexes last week fell 1% and 1.5%, respectively.

In London, the FTSE 100 rose 0.4% to 7,500.51 (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/miners-oil-shares-lead-the-ftse-100-higher-2017-05-22). Spain's IBEX 35 fell 0.5% to 10,785.10.

Stock movers: Clariant AG shares (CLN.EB) jumped 9.3% after the Swiss chemicals company and Huntsman Corp. (HUN) reached an agreement to merge (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/huntsman-clariant-to-combine-into-20-bln-company-2017-05-22) in an all-stock deal that would create a company worth about $14 billion.

Aegon NV (AGN.AE) climbed 7.5% after the Dutch insurer said it will sell its two largest U.S. life businesses. (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/aegon-to-sell-2-runoff-businesses-to-wilton-re-2017-05-22)

UCB SA (UCB.BT) tumbled 13% the Brussels-based company said it doesn't expect U.S. approval of its romosozumab treatment for postmenopausal women with osteoporosis to occur in 2017. A "newly observed cardiovascular safety signal will have to be assessed," although a study of the treatment met primary and secondary endpoints, said UCB, which is working on romosozumab with Amgen Inc. (AMGN) .

Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC shares (RBS.LN) were up 0.6% following a Sky News report that the lender has doubled a settlement offer to shareholders (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/rbs-doubles-settlement-offer-to-shareholders-ahead-of-high-court-battle-report-2017-05-22) just a few hours before a potentially costly High Court trial is set to get underway.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 22, 2017 05:28 ET (09:28 GMT)

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