European stocks were slightly higher Monday morning, as investors monitored signs of thawing tensions between the U.S. and North Korea and reacted to renewed political turmoil in Italy.
Among national indexes, Italian stocks were among the top performers during early morning deals, around 0.7 percent higher amid news of a dramatic setback for the country's populist parties. Meanwhile, Germany's DAX and France's CAC were also trading slightly higher shortly after the opening bell.
Market holidays in the U.K. and U.S. were widely expected to make trading slow and illiquid on Monday.
The leader of Italy's largest political party called for the country's president to be impeached after choosing to veto a choice for economy minister. Luigi Di Maio of the anti-establishment Five Star Movement said President Sergio Mattarella had prompted an "institutional crisis" by rejecting euroskeptic candidate Paolo Savona.
No major political group has been able to form a majority in Italy since elections in March, leaving the euro zone's third-largest economy without a government.
The euro gained ground on the news, adding 0.4 percent against the U.S. dollar on Monday morning and ticking up against most other major trading partners as well. In debt markets, the Italian 10-year sovereign yield dropped 10 basis points showing that investors actually saw government bonds as being more appealing with populist parties failing to win their demands.
Meanwhile, utility stocks led the gains, up around 0.7 percent amid political uncertainty in Italy. Milan-based stocks including Italgas, Snam and Enel were among the top performers, all trading over 1 percent higher.
Looking at individual stocks, shares of Genmab tumbled to the bottom of the European benchmark after the Danish biotech company announced it would stop some of its lung cancer trials. Shares of the company slumped over 19 percent on the news.
Singapore summit
President Donald Trump said Sunday that representatives from the U.S. had arrived in North Korea over the weekend, in an effort to prepare for a proposed summit between him and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Last week, the U.S. president pulled out of the scheduled meeting — due in Singapore next month — citing the isolated regime's "hostility."
Asian stocks edged higher on Monday, following news Washington and Pyongyang are still working towards holding a summit. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares, excluding Japan, rose 0.2 percent.
