European Stocks Little Changed to Kick Off the Week
2026-03-16 08:35
By
Joana Taborda
1 min. read
Both the STOXX 50 and the STOXX 600 were little changed at the start of the week, as markets appeared to stabilise even though traders remain focused on the conflict involving Iran.
Strikes continue and oil prices are rising, but US President Trump increased pressure on nations to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz and said the US was in talks with Iran.
At the same time, traders are bracing for a week packed with central bank decisions, including those from the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank.
The energy sector led the gains and defense stocks were also higher.
HSBC Holdings (+0.5%), Shell (+0.7%), Unilever (+0.8%) and TotalEnergies (+0.4%) advanced, while Commerzbank (+3.6%) was among the top performers after UniCredit launched an offer to raise its stake to more than 30% in the German lender without seeking control.
Shares of UniCredit were up 0.8%.
On the downside, Roche (-0.2%), Novartis (-0.4%) and AstraZeneca (-0.7%) traded lower.