European stocks inched up on Monday to near record territory, as the market focus continued to be on the volatility in the cryptocurrency space.
The Stoxx Europe 600 SXXP, -0.02% inched up 0.1% to 444.79, near the closing high of 445.39. German and Swiss markets were closed in observance of Whit Monday. U.S. stock futures ES00, +0.44% were higher.
Bitcoin BTCUSD, +8.15% traded at $36,393 after falling as low as $31,133 over the weekend.
“We’ve seen crypto come under criticism from the billionaire Elon Musk, the Chinese national government, and now even top religious institutions with comments form the pope,” said David Grider, lead digital asset strategist at Fundstrat. “As a result we’ve seen normal mid market cycle selling pressure intensify to cause leveraged liquidations, a cascade of forced selling, lots of fear and capitulation with Bitcoin now down ~50% from its all time high.”
Ryanair RY4C, -0.24% shares eased 0.1%. A Ryanair flight from Greece to Lithuania was forced to land in Belarus over an alleged bomb scare, at which point the country arrested an opposition activist. The European Council said it would begin discussing sanctions against Belarus over the incident.
Ted Baker TED, -0.39% shares slipped, after the clothing retailer delayed its full-year results, citing the consequence of disruption caused by COVID-19 on the audit processes. Ted Baker said the 2020 results would be in line with forecasts and that it is reiterating 2023 financial targets.
Information-technology services firm Kainos KNOS, +0.92% rose 4%, after reporting a 122% rise in adjusted earnings per share on a 31% rise in revenue in the year ending March 31.
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