Stocks in Europe are rising on the back of optimism about Russia-Ukraine talks.
Hudson Lockett in Hong Kong and Naomi Rovnick and George Steer in London
European stocks rose on Monday, boosted by optimism about the outcome of talks between Russia and Ukraine.
The regional Stoxx 600 share index, which has lost more than a tenth of its value this year as investors became increasingly concerned about Russian sanctions choking off commodity supplies and causing recessions, gained 1.2%.
Oil benchmarks fell on expectations that Russia would be more willing to engage in serious talks with Ukraine.
“If you compare the stances of both delegations at the outset of the discussions and now, there has been tremendous progress,” Leonid Slutsky, one of the Russian negotiators, told RT Arabic, a Russian state-owned news station.
Brent crude, the international standard, declined 3.3% to $109 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate, the US benchmark, slid 3.6% to $105.
“Oil prices remain volatile as a result of unclear incremental supply from outside Russia, as well as ongoing geopolitical risk from the war,” said Kaushal Ramesh, senior analyst at Rystad Energy.
Expert reaction to claims that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has lost touch with Chernobyl nuclear data systems