European indices closed trading on Monday with gains. Thus, the STOXX Europe 600 Index added 0.7%, UK's FTSE 100 index rose by 0.94%, France's benchmark CAC-40 equity index gained 0.54%, Spain's IBEX and Italy's FTSE MIB increased by 0.7%, and the German DAX jumped by 0.16%.
European indicators showed growth after a steep drop on Friday amid the news that a number of people in European countries had been found to be infected with the Omicron variant of COVID-19. The main concern is that the heavily mutated Omicron coronavirus variant is likely to spread internationally and poses a very high risk of infection surges. Nevertheless, on Monday, European stocks managed to pare some losses.
Germany's DAX index gained less than other indices due to a spike in inflation to 5.2% in the current month from 4.5% in October. German consumer price rises have seen their highest level in almost three decades. Also, Germany's annual consumer price inflation accelerated to 6%, while experts predicted a 5.5% increase.
The overall business confidence indicator in the European region fell to 117.5 in November from 118.6 in October. At the same time, the indicator was in line with analyst forecasts.
Among the components of the STOXX 600 index, the shares of Carnival Corp added 2.8%, Wizz Air Holdings rose by 5.5%, Nordic Semiconductor surged by 5.7%, and Evolution Gaming - by 4,5%.
BT Group stock jumped by 6.1% after a report that Indian oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance was considering an offer for the UK telecom firm.
The shares of French company Faurecia, on the contrary, lost 7.9% due to a negative outlook. Telecom Italia stock also fell by 2% after news of the resignation of its CEO Luigi Gubitosi.