Europe close: Stocks jump as markets digest tariff news-flow

(Sharecast News) - Stocks jumped at the start of the holiday-shortened week, after the US administration that some consumer electronics and computer hardware would be exempt from the reciprocal 125% trade tariffs placed on China.

Even a later clarification that other tariffs would eventually placed on those goods and that levies on chip imports might come as soon as the following week failed to dent investor sentiment.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index traded 2.69% higher to 499.89, led by a 3.88% jump in a sector gauge for lenders.

Germany's Dax climbed 2.85% to 20,954.83, alongside a 2.885 advance for Italy's FTSE Mib to 35,007.14.

"The US president might be changing his tariff policy on a daily basis, but that hasn't stopped stocks from continuing their short-term recovery from last week's lows," said IG chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp.

"Today is a very sleepy session at the index level when compared with the madcap trading of the past two weeks, but for the moment a steady drift higher seems the most likely path assuming tariff headlines remain off everyone's screens."

Busy week ahead

Market participants were starting to look ahead to Thursday when the European Central Bank is expected to cut interest rates again amid ongoing tariff-related uncertainty. "We expect another cut to the ECB policy rate this week as the downside risks to growth and inflation grow," said analysts at Citi in a note.

Aside from the ECB, investors will have a wave of key economic data and corporate earnings to contend with during a shortened trading week, with most markets closed on Friday for Easter. These include the latest quarterly figures from US banks, inflation data from the eurozone and UK, US retail sales and business inventories figures, and earnings from heavyweight tech groups TSMC and Netflix.

Market movers

Banking stocks gained across the region, including HSBC and Barclays in London, Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt, and Credit Agricole and Societe Generale in Paris.

Even BNP Paribas rose despite cutting its full-year return on invested capital guidance following its �5.1bn acquisition of AXA's asset management unit. BNP said on Monday that it now expects a return of more than 14% in the third year, down from 18%.

BP was a high riser after a new oil discovery at its Far South prospect in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, marking a potential boost to its upstream portfolio as the company accelerates exploration efforts under its revised strategic plan.

Belgian insurer Ageas rose after agreeing to buy UK-based digital personal lines insurer Esure from Bain Capital for �1.3bn, increasing its European markets presence and reinforcing its positioning in the UK. The combination of the two will create the third largest UK personal lines platform.

London-listed Ashmore dropped sharply after the emerging markets-focused asset manager reported a 5% drop in assets under management over the first quarter of 2025.