Europe midday: Stoxx slips as Trump rejects Iran peace plans

(Sharecast News) - European shares were lower at midday while oil prices surged on Monday after US President Donald Trump rejected Iran's latest peace proposals.

The pan-regional Stoxx 600 index was down 0.11% to 611.88 at 1200 BST with major bourses mixed. Britain's oil-heavy FTSE 100 index was up 0.11%, while Germany's DAX was flat and France's CAC-40 fell 0.97%.

Trump declared Iran's counterproposal to end the war in the Middle East as "totally unacceptable". Tehran is demanding an end to the war on all fronts and the lifting of sanctions on the country, Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency reported, citing an informed source.

Benchmark Brent crude jumped 2.33% to $103 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate was up 2.4% to $97.

Eyes will be on Trump and his visit to China this week where the war and trade talks between the leaders of the world's two largest economies will be top of the agenda.

"Despite waking up to the news that the US rejected Iran's peace proposal, and that the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, despite the fact that US crude rebounded back above $100pb - a more than 5% jump this morning with no retreat yet, the Korean Kospi index - which had been one of the most sensitive indices to oil prices - is up by more than 4.50% to a fresh all-time-high at the time of writing," said Swissquote analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya.

"Elsewhere, the Nikkei is struggling to push higher with a 1.71% retreat from an all-time-high, while the S&P500 and Nasdaq futures are flat, with Stoxx and FTSE futures even pointing to meagre gains."

"It's hard to make sense of the market reaction, it feels like the calm before a storm - higher energy prices will hit the ground sooner rather than later as Middle East tensions prolong and the world's energy stockpiles dry out."

In equity news, Delivery Hero shares jumped after Prosus agreed to sell part of its stake in the food delivery platform to Aspex Management for around €335m.

GEA Group fell after reporting flat first quarter earnings.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com