In European Equity Markets stocks scored modest gains Monday, helped by jumps for Royal Bank of Scotland, Rolls-Royce and furniture seller Steinhoff International. The Stoxx Europe 600 tacked on 0.2 percent to end at 371.04, building on last week’s gain of 0.8 percent. France’s CAC 40 index inched down less than 0.1 percent to end at 4,864.99, while Germany’s DAX 30 rose 0.6 percent to close at 11,827.62. Shares in Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC gained 6.8 percent following news the bank might not sell its Williams & Glyn business. Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC jumped 6.3 percent after Goldman Sachs analysts upgraded their rating for the engines maker to buy and put the stock on their “conviction” list.

In Currency Markets the euro rode out signs of gains for far-right French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen on Monday, inching higher against the dollar and the yen in trade held in check by the absence of U.S. investors because of a holiday. The euro held on to some minimal gains, gaining 0.1 percent to $1.0616 and 0.3 percent to 120.06 yen respectively. Against the Japanese yen, the dollar rose rose 0.23 percent to 113.09, not far from Friday’s one-week lows of 112.61 and the euro was up 0.31 percent at 120.09 yen. The pound rose 0.5 percent to $1.2470. The dollar index edged down 0.07 percent to 100.82.

In Commodities Markets oil edged up on Monday, as investor optimism over the effectiveness of producer cuts encouraged record bets on a sustained price rise, although growing U.S. output and stubbornly high stockpiles kept price gains in check. Top OPEC exporter Saudi Arabia’s crude oil shipments fell in December to 8.014 million barrels per day (bpd) from 8.258 million bpd in November, official data showed on Monday. Brent futures were up 38 cents at $56.19 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was up 0.5 percent, at $53.69 in very thin trading. Spot gold was up 0.2 percent at $1,237.67 an ounce and silver was down 0.1 percent at $17.96 an ounce.

In U.S., Equity Markets were closed for the Presidents Day holiday.

In Bond Markets benchmark German Bund yields were pinned near 0.29 percent, with the spread to French equivalents at one stage around 84 bps – the biggest gap since late 2012. Two-year German bond yields hit a record low at minus 0.85 percent, while other euro zone bonds sold off with their French peers. Irish and Italian 10-year bond yields briefly rose as much as 7 bps each. France’s 10-year bond yield rose as much as 9 basis points to a two-week high at 1.14 percent, before settling back to 1.05 percent as markets closed.