Britain's FTSE 100 closed higher on Monday, propelled by gains in healthcare and defence stocks, while investors kept a watch on U.S.-brokered peace talks aimed at ending the Russia-Ukraine war, APA reports citing Reuters.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 (.FTSE), finished 0.2% up after dipping earlier in the session. However, the benchmark was still well below Friday's intraday record high.
The midcap FTSE 250 (.FTMC), ended little changed.
In Europe, Germany's DAX (.GDAXI), eased 0.2%. Britain's FTSE (.FTSE), was up 0.2%.
The S&P 500 (.SPX), closed little changed on Monday, but remained within striking distance of its all-time high hit on Friday.
Geopolitics dominated market sentiment as investors awaited U.S. President Donald Trump's meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders, due later in the day.
Trump is pressing for a quick end to the Russia-Ukraine war, with Kyiv and its allies fearing pressure to accept terms favoring Moscow after his Friday's summit with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
Energy sector (.FTNMX601010), which closed 0.5% lower, remained in focus, with oil markets being sensitive to Washington's signals on secondary sanctions on Russian oil.
Heavy-weight healthcare shares (.FTNMX201030), primarily drove Monday's advances, rising 1.2%.
Aerospace and defence sector (.FTNMX502010), began the week on a strong footing, advancing 1.2%, with Babcock International Group (BAB.L), jumping 5.3% after brokerage firm RBC Capital Markets initiated coverage at "outperform" rating.
Meanwhile, industrial metal mining companies (.FTNMX551020), weakened 2.2%, as a stronger U.S. dollar weighed on metal prices.
A gauge of Britain's homebuilders (.FTNMX402020), closed near 1% lower after a survey showed that asking prices for newly advertised British properties fell in the four weeks to mid-August, though less notably than in previous months. July sales reached their highest level for that time of year since 2020.
Additionally, global markets will focus on Thursday's Jackson Hole symposium, where U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell may offer insights into future interest rate directions for the world's largest economy.
Among single stocks, bootmaker Dr Martens (DOCS.L), gained 8.5% after brokerage firm Peel Hunt upgraded the stock to "buy" from "add".
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