European Markets Outside Italy Gain on Iran Nuclear Deal

European markets opened higher on 25 November, and most markets continued trading higher thereafter, with news that western powers and Iran struck a historic nuclear deal on 24 November.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 0.5% to 324.45.

Britain's FTSE 100 and France's CAC 40 rose 0.5%.

Germany's DAX 30 rose 0.6%.

Spain's IBEX 35 was trading 0.27% higher after opening higher.

Italy's FTSE MIB was trading 0.23% lower after opening higher.

Iran and six major world powers clinched a landmark nuclear deal on Sunday, following marathon five-day negotiations in the Swiss city of Geneva.

The agreement ends a decade-long standoff between the parties.

Under the terms of the interim agreement between Iran and the P5+1 powers (Britain, China, Russia, France, Germany and the US), Iran will curb its nuclear programme in return for an easing of some economic sanctions.

The deal paves the way for the export of up to one million barrels of oil per day by the Islamic Republic, amid higher inventory in the US, the world's largest consumer of oil.

The news weighed down on oil prices, and on oil and gas stocks. However, it boosted airline stocks amid speculation that carriers could soon be buying cheaper fuel.

BP shed 0.6%. Rivals Shell and Total were down 0.5%.

Meanwhile, IAG shot up 3%, Air France-KLM gained 2.9% while Easyjet added 2.1%.

In company news, French automaker Peugeot Citroen's stock price jumped 3.9% following reports that chief executive Philippe Varin proposes to step down in 2014.

Former Renault chief operating officer Carlos Tavares could replace Varin.

In other news, a government advisor, hired by Britain's business secretary Vince Cable, has said that the Royal Bank of Scotland pushed businesses into default, in order to move them into its Global Restructuring Group (GRG).

This can create more revenue for the bank through higher fees and margins and can result in the purchase of devalued assets by its property division, West Register.

Meanwhile, Britain's Chancellor George Osborne has revealed that his top priority in the immediate future is to save the Co-operative Bank which has been hit by a capital black hole, as well as the scandal involving "Crystal Methodist" Paul Flowers.

In Asia and the US

The Japanese Nikkei finished 1.54% higher on 25 November. South Korea's Kospi finished 0.49% higher and Australia's S&P/ASX finished 0.32% higher.

The Shanghai Composite finished 0.47% lower and Hong Kong's Hang Seng finished 0.05% lower.

Mumbai's BSE Sensex was trading 1.78% higher.

Regional markets outside China traded higher after the deal to ease economic sanctions on Iran pulled down oil prices.

Asian markets witnessed mixed trade during the week ended 23 November. The Shanghai Composite index led the pack while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 trailed.

On Wall Street, indices finished higher on 22 November on the back of upbeat labour market data.

The number of Americans claiming government-sponsored unemployment benefits dropped to a near two-month low, the Labor Department said on 21 November.

The Dow finished 54.78 points higher or 0.3% at 16,064.77.

The S&P 500 closed 8.91 points higher or 0.5% at 1,804.76.

The Nasdaq ended 22.49 points higher or 0.6% at 3,991.65.

For the week ended 23 November, the Dow finished 0.7% higher, the S&P 500 closed 0.4% higher and the Nasdaq ended 0.1% higher.