European shares climb nearly 1% on banks, defence rally

Forvia SE

20/10/2025 09:06

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Oct 20 (Reuters) - European shares rose nearly 1% on Monday, underpinned by strong performances among banks and defence stocks, as investors digested a couple of corporate earnings and assessed sector-specific momentum and macro signals.

The continent-wide STOXX 600 index .STOXX was up 0.9% at 571.05 points, as of 0750 GMT. Other major regional indexes also traded higher.

European banks .SX7P rose 1.6%, among the top boosts in the STOXX 600, rebounding from a 2.5% drop on Friday when signs of credit stress at U.S. regional lenders unnerved investors.

The STOXX aerospace & defence index .SXPARO climbed 2.1%, recouping from a sharp fall on Friday when news of a planned summit on the war in Ukraine jolted the sector.

Shares of Swedish military equipment maker Saab SAABb.ST were up 3.1% after the company received a Spanish artillery radar contract.

Among other movers, Kering PRTP.PA jumped 4.2% after the Gucci owner agreed to sell its beauty business to L'Oreal OREP.PA for 4 billion euros ($4.66 billion).

Holcim HOLN.S rose 1.4% on a 1.85-billion-euro ($2.16 billion) agreement to acquire German walling systems maker Xella.

France-based car parts supplier Forvia FRVIA.PA lost 6% after reporting a 3.7% drop in its third-quarter sales.

On the data front, German producer prices fell more than expected in September.

 (Reporting by Sukriti Gupta in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)

 ((johann.mcherian@thomsonreuters.com;))