European stocks traded cautiously lower on Monday, as top leaders still are negotiating on a rescue fund to bolster the economic response to the coronavirus.
Up 1.6% last week, the Stoxx Europe 600
SXXP,
traded 0.6% lower.
The German DAX
DAX,
, French CAC 40
PX1,
and U.K. FTSE 100
UKX,
also lose ground.
After the S&P 500
SPX,
advanced 1.25% last week, futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average
YM00,
slipped 146 points.
Attention was in Brussels where a two-day meeting of European leaders has turned into four, with talks scheduled to resume in the afternoon.
Reports suggest that leaders may agree on €390 billion worth of grants on a fund that could be worth between €700 billion and €750 billion. “That the summit heads into its fourth day could be a good sign. It suggests a deal may be possible at this summit already, at least on parts of what is on the table,” said Florian Hense, European economist at Berenberg Bank.
In addition to the Brussels summit, EU negotiators are in London on Monday for a fifth set of negotiations on the U.K.’s exit from the trading block.
The coronavirus also is a focus, with U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson over the weekend likening a second lockdown to a nuclear deterrent. U.S. coronvirus numbers have plateaued, with new cases of about 64,000 on Sunday.
GlaxoSmithKline
GSK,
shares slipped 1% after agreeing to pay CureVac as much as £866 million in a deal that nets the U.K. pharmaceutical giant a nearly 10% stake in the German biotech known for its vaccines capabilities.
AstraZeneca
AZN,
rose 2% ahead of a publication of a study expected in The Lancet on the coronavirus vaccine from Oxford University it will distribute.
Philips
PHIA,
rose more than 3% after better-than-forecast second-quarter numbers.
UBI Banca
UBI,
shares shot up 11% as Intesa Sanpaolo added a cash component to its takeover offer.
