After rising for five consecutive weeks, the Stoxx Europe 600 SXXP, -0.43% started Monday on the back foot, slipping 0.4%, with banks including Lloyds Banking Group LLOY, -3.28% declining.
Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney told Irish broadcaster RTE that the update on Monday from the EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, was “very downbeat,” while The Sun newspaper quoted a source close to Johnson as saying the U.K. could exit the talks altogether in “hours.” The European Central Bank on Thursday is expected to extend the capabilities of its bond-buying program. In the U.S., a bipartisan group of senators is expected to unveil the legislation behind its $908 billion stimulus plan as early as Monday.