The major European stocks closed slightly higher on Monday with investors largely making cautious moves, reacting to the results of the German federal election, and ECB President Christine Lagarde's comments that inflation in the euro area could exceed projections but price increases are likely be temporary.
Olaf Scholz of the center-left Social Democrats defeated Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives in an extremely tight German federal election, setting in motion what could be months of complex coalition talks to decide who will lead Europe's biggest economy.
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June 19, 2026 16:46 ET Major central banks continued to dominate the economic news flow this week too, led by the Federal Reserve, as they announced their latest policy decisions. The Federal Reserve policy session was in focus as it was the first to be led by the new chief Kevin Warsh. In Europe, central banks of the U.K. and Switzerland announced their rate decisions. In Asia, the Bank of Japan drew attention for its policy moves, while data out of China threw some light on the state of the economy.