Europe stocks gain on healthcare, luxury amid US shutdown watch

By Shashwat Chauhan, Amir Orusov and Purvi Agarwal

(Reuters) -European shares ended slightly higher on Monday as gains in healthcare and luxury stocks offset weakness in banks and energy, while investors assessed the possibility of a U.S. government shutdown that could delay the release of key economic data.

The pan-European STOXX 600 closed 0.2% higher, coming off a flat finish the previous week.

Healthcare stocks <.SXDP> were among the top gainers, up 0.9%. UCB shares hit a record high after U.S. rival MoonLake Immunotherapeutics released mixed data for its skin disease drug.

GSK added 2.2% after the drugmaker said Emma Walmsley will step down as CEO and will be replaced by insider Luke Miels in January. AstraZeneca added about 1% after it said it would directly list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange instead of the current depository shares.

European miners climbed 1.7%, tracking higher metal prices, with gold at a record high and copper prices in London also gaining, while technology stocks rose 1.1%.

Luxury stocks also provided a lift, with the broader index up 1.9%, reclaiming ground lost last week.

On the flip side, euro zone banks shed 1.1% as Germany's Commerzbank lost 3%, while energy shares slipped tracking a 2% decline in crude prices.

Investors anticipated a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and top Democratic and Republican leaders in Congress to discuss extending government funding. Without a deal, a shutdown would begin on Wednesday.

The U.S. Labor Department will suspend economic releases if the government shuts down, with numerous labor market readings scheduled for release this week. Markets have been focused on these data to gauge the path of monetary policy easing in the world's biggest economy.

"So far, markets appear to be shrugging off the high possibility of a shutdown... stocks appear to be betting that an agreement will be reached in short order with minimal disruption," said Mark Malek, chief investment officer at Siebert Financial.

"This week's (labor market) numbers will certainly inform next steps in Fed policy."

However, analysts at Citigroup said that an October shutdown remained likely and the September jobs report, due Friday, was likely to be delayed.

European stocks, took the Federal Reserve's first interest rate cut of 2025 in stride earlier this month, but still are still lagging Wall Street, reversing their outperformance in the beginning of the year.

Among other stocks, London-listed shares of Carnival fell 4.5% to bottom the STOXX 600 despite raising its annual profit forecast.

Denmark's Genmab pared earlier declines to close marginally lower after the company agreed to acquire biotech firm Merus NV for $8 billion.

(Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru and Amir Orusov in Gdansk; Editing by Janane Venkatraman, Mrigank Dhaniwala and Tasim Zahid)