Europe midday: Shares up as Nikkei surge lifts sentiment

(Sharecast News) - European shares were higher on Monday as investors rode the wave from Asia after Japan's Sanae Takaichi and her ruling Liberal Democratic Party won a massive victory in Sunday's national election.

The pan-regional Stoxx 600 index was up 0.19% to 618 at 1219 GMT with most major regional bourses higher.

Japanese shares hit a record high in response and the yen strengthened against the dollar.

"Takaichi's spend big and tax low approach has gone down well with stock markets, with the Nikkei crossing the 57,000 barrier for the first time before pulling back a little," said Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Derren Nathan.

"That puts pressure on productivity and economic growth to do the heavy lifting when it comes to balancing the books. Japanese inflation is nearly at the Bank of Japan's target level of 2% but there are concerns that too much stimulus could see price increases accelerate again."

"The interplay between Governor Kazuo Ueda, and the newly emboldened premier will be the key dynamic to monitor, but markets look to be anticipating some pressure on state finances, with both the yen and prices of government securities under pressure after the result."

Meanwhile, the UK's FTSE 100 slipped amid concerns about the future of Prime Minister Keir Starmer after his director or communications and chief of staff both resigned in the fallout over the decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the US.

Mandelson is now facing a police investigation over his links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

On the economics front, investor sentiment across the eurozone rose for the third straight month in February to its highest since July 2025, according to a closely followed survey from Sentix on Monday, raising hopes that the economic upturn may have finally begun.

The Sentix Economic Index, which surveys over 1,000 private and institutional financial market investors across the region each month, increased to +4.2 from -1.8 in January and -6.2 in December.

In equity news, shares in InPost surged after a consortium of Advent and FedEx agreed a �7.8bn deal to buy the Polish parcel locker company for 15.60 euros per share.

Under the deal, Advent and FedEx each will own 37% of the company, while A&R, the investment vehicle of InPost CEO Rafal Brzoska will hold 16% and PPF, the investment firm of the Czech Kellner family, will hold the remaining 10%.

UniCredit gained after the Italian bank posted a record annual net profit of �10.6bn.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com