European stock markets closed mixed in Monday trading as oil prices continued to rise following an expansion and escalation of the war in the Middle East over the weekend.
The Stoxx Europe declined 0.5%, Germany's DAX fell 0.7%, the FTSE 100 gained 0.4%, France's CAC dropped 0.9%, and the Swiss Market Index rose 0.9%.
European Central Bank Governing Council member Martins Kazaks said the central bank may need to gradually raise interest rates further to contain inflation, due to higher energy costs, Reuters reported.
In corporate news, Spanish telecommunications operator Telefonica has resumed discussions with Zegona Communications over a potential acquisition of Vodafone Spain, with the Spanish telecom operator seeking to revive preliminary talks held previously, Vozpopuli reported Monday, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter.
The discussions had stalled amid an unfavorable geopolitical and macroeconomic environment, while Telefonica also viewed Zegona's valuation expectations as too high, according to a Google translation of the report.
Telefonica did not immediately respond to' request for comment.GSK
Shares of Telefonica declined 0.5% in Madrid.
Sanofi will acquire a 26.4% stake in Cheplapharm as part of a partnership agreement that would transfer 20 established medicines and three manufacturing sites to the German pharmaceutical company, the companies said Monday.
Under the agreement, the commercial transfer of the mature medicine portfolio is slated to begin in Q1 of 2027, followed by the transfer of three manufacturing sites located in Hungary, France, and Singapore, according to a statement. The transaction, anticipated to close in Q3 of 2027, is not expected to affect Sanofi's 2026 guidance, the companies said.
Shares of the French pharmaceutical company increased 2.6% in Paris.
GSK said Monday clinical trial data showed its drug zidesamtinib achieved a 94% response rate in patients with advanced lung cancer who had not received prior targeted therapy.
All trial participants with metastatic brain tumors responded to the treatment, with 70% achieving complete tumor clearance, the company said. Treatment-related adverse events resulted in dose reductions for 11% of patients and discontinuations for 1%, it said.
The company plans to submit an application to the US Food and Drug Administration this year to expand the drug's approval for first-line treatment, GSK said.
Shares of GSK climbed 4.6% in London.
AstraZeneca said Monday a late-stage study of its drug Enhertu showed a six-month improvement in median progression-free survival as a first-line treatment for advanced HER2-mutant non-small cell lung cancer.
The pharmaceutical major also said a separate Phase 3 trial showed that Tagrisso provided a sustained, clinically meaningful overall survival benefit at eight years compared with placebo in patients with early-stage EGFR-mutated lung cancer following complete tumor resection.
Shares of AstraZeneca advanced 3.5% in London.
STMicroelectronics on Monday introduced a 1.1-megapixel automotive image sensor designed to monitor drivers and passengers using infrared cameras.
The ST SafeSense VD56GA captures clearer infrared images while reducing camera size, integration needs and overall system costs, the company said.
Shares of the French semiconductor company fell 6.7% in Paris.
Nokia said Monday that ESpanix has deployed its AI-powered Deepfield Defender cybersecurity service to detect and mitigate distributed denial-of-service, or DDoS, attacks on the Spanish company's internet exchange platform.
With the deployment, ESpanix can offer DDoS protection as an optional service to the more than 200 national and international networks connected to its exchange, Nokia said.
Shares of the Finnish telecommunications company shed 10% in Helsinki.
Ericsson and Nex-Tech Wireless have agreed to a four-year modernization program to upgrade about 85% of the carrier's radio access network infrastructure in rural Kansas, the companies said Monday.
Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
The project involves installing a cloud-native 5G standalone core alongside hosting capabilities for third-party mobile carriers, the company said.
Shares of the Swedish telecommunications company were off 0.3% in Stockholm.