FX.co ★ European equity markets closed positive

Olaf Scholz, candidate for the chancellor from the victorious Social Democratic Party (SPD), expressed the hope that the new German government will be formed before Christmas. "We will try to form a government with greens and the Free Democratic Party," he said.

According to the results of the 2017 elections, it took the government 172 days to form a "grand" coalition of the CDU / CSU and the SPD. Elections were held in September, and the coalition agreement was signed on March 12, 2018. Scholz promised that in the case of a government under his leadership, this will not happen.

The British FTSE 100 and the French CAC 40 increased by 0.2%. Italy's FTSE MIB and Spain's IBEX 35 added 0.6% and 1.5%, respectively.

Meanwhile, the composite index of the largest enterprises in the region Stoxx Europe 600 by the end of trading fell by 0.2% and amounted to 462.42 points.

In Spain, the leaders of growth were the shares of banks, in particular, UniCredit (+ 5%) and IntesaSanpaol, as well as oil producers Tenaris (+ 3.4%), Eni (+ 2.3%) and Saipem (+ 1.7%) ).

Producer prices in Spain in August increased by 18% compared to last year, according to the statistics of the country. Growth rates were at their highest since May 1980. In July, the figure rose by 15.6% in annual terms.

Meanwhile, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said yesterday that inflation could exceed the ECB's forecasts, but there is little sign of that so far.

Due to the shortage of natural gas supplies in Europe, oil prices are rising, which pushes energy stocks up. BP rose 3.5%, Royal Dutch Shell rose 4.5%, Italian ENI rose 2.3%.

Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc shares jumped 11.3%. The British engineering holding announced the sale of the Spanish aircraft engine manufacturer ITP Aero to a consortium of investors led by investment company Bain Capital Private Equity for 1.7 billion euros. In addition, Rolls-Royce has signed a 30-year contract with the US Air Force.

The value of the German pet store chain Zooplus rose 4.3% after the Swedish private investment company EQT AB made an offer to buy it for 3.36 billion euros.

Swedish office rental IWG rose 4.4% on news that the company is considering dividing and listing one of its New York divisions through a merger with specialized mergers and acquisitions (SPAC).