European markets to start the week broadly higher despite Iran-U.S. impasse

Pakistan's Army Chief and Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir (3rd R) meets with Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi (3rd L) upon his arrival in Islamabad on April 25, 2026. - | Afp | LONDON — European stocks are expected to start the new week on a broadly positive footing as investors keep a close eye on stalled Iran-U.S. peace talks and look ahead to central bank meetings. The U.K.'s FTSE index is seen opening unchanged, Germany's DAX up 0.3%, France's CAC 40 up 0.2% and Italy's FTSE MIB up 0.26%, according to data from IG. Market sentiment appears to be buoyant despite U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday scrapping plans to send U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Islamabad in Pakistan for talks with Iran. "Too much time wasted on traveling, too much work!" the president wrote in a post on Truth Social , adding: "Nobody knows who is in charge, including them. Also, we have all the cards; they have none! If they want to talk, all they have to do is call!!!" Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said at the weekend that no meetings between Tehran and Washington were planned. Global market attention will be focusing on central banks later this week, with the U.S. Federal Reserve, European Central Bank (ECB) and Bank of England (BOE) all due to hold pivotal meetings as the war upends inflation and growth expectations. …