Defence stocks soared on Monday, with London-listed company BAE Systems (BA.L) surging nearly 13% to the top of the FTSE 100 (^FTSE).
This came after a defence summit of European leaders, including Ukrainian prime minister Volodymyr Zelensky, in London on Sunday to discuss finding ways to end the Russia-Ukraine war.
UK prime minister Keir Starmer said Europe must act to support Ukraine, and that the UK and France would lead a "coalition of the willing" to help end the war with Russia.
The summit saw European leaders agree to boost defence spending. In addition to the rise of BAE Systems shares on Monday morning, Chemring (CHG.L) rose 4% and Cohort climbed 6.5%.
Sunday's summit followed a fiery meeting between US president Donald Trump and Zelensky on Friday, in which Trump accused the Ukrainian president of "gambling with World War Three".
Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "Investors aren’t simply expecting a boost to defence companies from supplying equipment and services to Ukraine. They’re also focused on the potential for governments around the world now taking defence even more seriously and spending large swathes of money to help others while also defending their own land."
Data released over the weekend showed continued waning demand for Tesla (TSLA) cars in Europe, amid a backlash against CEO Elon Musk.
According to data from French industry association Plateforme Automobile, released on Saturday, Tesla registered 2,395 cars in France in February, which was down 26% from the same month last year. France is the European Union's second-biggest electric vehicle (EV) market, after Germany.
This latest set of data comes after figures from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, released last week, showed that new car registrations for Tesla (TSLA) across Europe slid 45% in January year-on-year to 9,945 units.
The drop comes after Musk, a key adviser to US president Donald Trump, made several high-profile interventions in European politics, including backing the far-right AfD party in the recent federal elections in Germany. In the US, demonstrators have been gathering outside Tesla showrooms to protest against Musk's advocacy for making spending cuts to government agencies, in his role leading the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Shares in Tesla are down 27% year-to-date, which has taken the company's market capitalisation below the $1tn mark to $942.6bn (£745.9bn).
Cryptocurrencies rallied on Monday, after Trump said that a number of the digital tokens would be included in a new US strategic reserve.
Bitcoin (BTC-USD) surged nearly 7% on Monday morning to $91,683.76, while ether (ETH-USD), XRP (XRP-USD), solana (SOL-USD) and cardano (ADA-USD) also rose, after Trump said in a social media post on Sunday that they would be included in the stockpile.
Shares in cryptocurrency exchange platform Coinbase were up 9% in pre-market trading on Monday.
Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "Most other global governments have been wary of crypto but the new US administration has a different perspective."
"The decision to create a reserve rather than a stockpile – while seemingly a subtle distinction – implies the government could actively buy cryptocurrencies at regular intervals rather than simply holding on to existing crypto holdings."
Shares in Reliance Industries fell 2.3% on Monday, following a news report that a unit of billionaire Mukesh Ambani's conglomerate was at risk of being fined over delays to a government-subsidised battery cell project.
Bloomberg reported on Monday that Reliance New Energy was liable to pay fines of as much as 1.25 billion rupees (£11.3m) after failing to set up a battery cell plant that formed part of Indian prime minister Narendra Modi's efforts to reduce dependence on imports.
Rajesh Exports (RAJESHEXPO.NS), a gold and diamond jewellery manufacturer, also reportedly faces a penalty for delays in its work on battery cells.
Both Reliance New Energy and Rajesh Exports (RAJESHEXPO.NS) won bids in 2022, under an Indian government plan to reward local production, to build battery cell plants.
Manufacturers were eligible for 181 billion rupees worth of subsidies under the production-linked incentives (PLI) programme.
Spokespeople for Reliance New Energy and Rajesh Exports (RAJESHEXPO.NS) were not available for comment at the time of writing.
Shares in Hong Kong-listed Italian luxury fashion house Prada (1913.HK) rose 3.5% on Monday, in the wake of a report that it was moving closer to buying Versace.
Bloomberg reported on Sunday that Prada had edged closer to buying Versace from multinational fashion holding company Capri Holdings (CPRI) after agreeing a price of €1.5bn (£1.23bn).
