EU stocks mostly higher as investors monitor EU recovery fund talks

European stocks were mostly higher on Monday afternoon as European Union (EU) leaders continue to try to hash out an agreement over a multibillion-euro recovery fund.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 recouped its earlier losses to edge 0.3% above the flatline by afternoon trading. Telecoms stocks added 1% to lead gains while the travel and leisure sector slid 1.5% lower.

Britain’s FTSE 100 was the only major index firmly in the red, with tensions between the U.K. and China weighing on sentiment. U.K. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab is reportedly expected to announce the suspension of the country’s Hong Kong extradition treaty on Monday, in response to Beijing’s new security bill in the former British colony.