European stocks climb as US-China tensions cool

London stocks closed in the green on Monday as a trade deal between the US and China buoyed investor sentiment.

‘Some people thought the best-case outcome from the weekend‘s discussions would be an agreement to simply keep talks going. Therefore, to have reached an initial deal so quickly and one that rolls back tariffs by a large amount is a pleasant surprise,’ said Russ Mould at AJ Bell.

The FTSE 100 index ended up 50.18 points, 0.6%, at 8,604.98. The FTSE 250 was up 123.01 points, 0.6%, at 20,627.38, and the AIM All-Share was up 2.39 points, 0.3%, at 729.30.

The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.7% at 858.15 and the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.6% at 18,051.80, and the Cboe Small Companies was up 1.2% at 15,723.00.

Mining stocks supported the London market with fears of a global recession lessening. Anglo American rose 5.5%, Glencore gained 6.1% and Antogagasta advanced 5.8%.

Asia-focused banks Standard Chartered and HSBC firmed 8.2% and 3.9% respectively, while Prudential, which also has its prospects trained on the region, rose 4.0%.

Following a weekend of trade talks in Geneva, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told reporters the sides had agreed to temporarily roll back ’reciprocal tariffs’ for a 90-day period.

US President Donald Trump last month had imposed duties of 145% on imports from China, compared to 10% for other countries. Beijing hit back with duties of 125% on US goods.

Bessent said the two sides agreed to reduce those tariffs by 115 percentage points, taking US tariffs to 30% and those imposed by China to 10%.

Deutsche Bank Research noted it previously had predicted ‘quick and substantial cuts to tariffs’, but ‘today’s announcement even exceeds our constructive expectations’.