UK’s FTSE 100 ended higher as gains in energy firms outpaced losses in mining stocks after weak Chinese economic data renewed slowing demand concerns.
Debt-ridden water company Thames Water said its investors had agreed to pump £750 million into the firm, lifting rival water utility firms United Utilities Group and Severn Trent up 1 per cent and 1.5 per cent respectively.fell 0.2 per cent as the company began its hunt for a new chief executive as incumbent Philip Jansen said he planned to step down.The pan-European STOXX 600 index ended 0.2 per cent higher after recording its worst weekly performance in almost four months on Friday.
Bayer rose 1.6 per cent following a report that the German drugs-to-pesticides giant could spin off and list its CropScience unit.Wall Street’s main indices rose on Monday, recovering losses from last week, as investors looked ahead to a key inflation report and commentary from a slew of Federal Reserve officials this week to gauge the central bank’s interest rate path.