12:07 PM EDT, 10/26/2026 (MT Newswires) -- The European stock markets closed higher in Monday trading as oil prices pulled back and bond yields stabilized.

The Stoxx Europe gained 0.8%, Germany's DAX advanced 1.1%, the FTSE 100 rose 0.7%, France's CAC climbed 0.9%, and the Swiss Market Index increased 0.4%.

In corporate news, HSBC plans to merge Hong-Kong based Hang Seng Bank's asset management unit with its fund management business, Reuters reported Monday, citing two unnamed people with direct knowledge of the matter.

According to the report, HSBC Asset Management, which manages $876 billion in assets, will consolidate Hang Seng Investment Management, which oversees $50 billion worth of assets.

Representatives for HSBC and Hang Seng did not immediately respond to MT Newswires' requests for comment.

Shares of HSBC increased 1.1% in London.

AstraZeneca said Saturday two phase 3 trials showed its cancer drug Imfinzi helped patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer and muscle-invasive bladder cancer, cutting the risk of death by 58% when combined with Amgen's (AMGN) Imdelltra in the lung cancer study and by 42% when paired with enfortumab vedotin in the bladder cancer study.

Separately, the company said Imfinzi given before and after surgery with enfortumab vedotin lowered the risk of recurrence by 49% and the risk of death by 42% in muscle-invasive bladder cancer.

Meanwhile, AstraZeneca and Hutchmed's Orpathys plus Tagrisso reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 44% to 55% compared with Tagrisso alone in a clinical trial of treatment-naive patients with locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer, AstraZeneca said Monday.

Orpathys is being jointly developed by AstraZeneca and Hutchmed, and commercialized by AstraZeneca.

Shares of AstraZeneca edged 0.1% higher in London.

BioNTech and DualityBiologics' phase 3 trial of trastuzumab pamirtecan in metastatic breast cancer achieved its primary endpoint of demonstrating a statistically significant improvement in progression-free survival, but with severe and fatal events, the companies said Monday.

Data on the secondary endpoint of overall survival were not yet mature as of the interim analysis, the companies said. Severe and fatal events were reported in a "small proportion of patients," along with a higher rate of interstitial lung disease compared with previous trials, they added.

Shares of the German biotech firm gained 0.8% in Frankfurt.

GSK reported that its cancer drug Jemperli met its primary objective in the phase 2 AZUR-1 clinical trial.

In an exploratory analysis, 76% of 144 evaluable patients with stage II and III microsatellite instability-high mismatch repair deficient locally advanced rectal cancer achieved a complete response to Jemperli alone.

The trial also showed no disease recurrences among responders after a median follow-up of more than two years. Jemperli recently received US approval for this indication, the company added.

Shares of the pharmaceutical company gained 1.1% in London.

Eni said Monday it completed the sale of its Nigerian onshore oil and gas unit, Agip Energy and Natural Resources, to Apex Global Energy, a company owned by Sterling Oil Exploration and Energy Production.

The unit holds a 5% stake in the Renaissance joint venture, where Renaissance owns 30% and operates the fields, TotalEnergies holds 10% and Nigerian National Petroleum Company holds 55%, the company said.

Eni also said Monday that it has begun the execution phase of the Cronos Project, its natural gas project offshore Cyprus, following the signing of the main engineering, procurement, construction and drilling contracts.

Eni said the project is expected to begin producing up to 500 million standard cubic feet per day in H1 of 2028.

Shares of Eni dropped 3% in Milan.

STMicroelectronics said it launched automotive combination sensors to broaden access to advanced safety and driver-assistance systems across premium and mass-market vehicles.

The sensors combine accelerometers and gyroscopes for vehicle safety applications, marking the first mass-market launches since STMicroelectronics acquired NXP's automotive and industrial MEMS sensors business earlier in 2026, it said.

Shares of the French semiconductor company advanced 3.2% in Paris.

Nokia has agreed to a five-year contract for L&T Technology Services to support its engineering and R&D activities in India, L&T Technology Services said on Monday.

No terms were disclosed.

L&T Technology Services said it will assist the Finland-based Nokia in product engineering, software development, system integration, and product support.

Shars of Nokia surged 6% in Helsinki.

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