European shares climb on optimism over US-Iran peace

European shares climbed nearly 1% on Monday, as a pause in U.S.-Iran hostilities over the weekend sent oil prices lower and boosted risk appetite, while investors braced for a pivotal week of earnings from major U.S. tech companies.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX was up 0.8% at 649.34, as of 0706 GMT.

A senior Iranian official told Reuters that Iran would halt attacks if the U.S. does the same, after Washington paused its bombing campaign amid concerns about depleting its arsenal.

Brent crude futures LCOc1 dropped 6% to around $90 a barrel, with energy stocks .SXEP losing 2%, joining utilities .SX6P as the only declining sectors in the STOXX 600. O/R

Travel and leisure stocks .SXTP led broader gains, up 2.4%, as lower oil prices boosted the outlook for airlines. Shares of Lufthansa LHAG.DE and IAG ICAG.L gained 3.7% each, while Ryanair RYA.I added 3.4%.

This week, markets will scrutinize quarterly results from U.S. Big Tech companies including Microsoft MSFT.O, Meta Platforms META.O, Amazon.com AMZN.O and Apple AAPL.O for signs on whether the AI-driven rally has further room to run.

Corporate earnings are in full swing in Europe as well.

Vodafone VOD.L advanced 3.7% after the telecom raised its outlook following its Safaricom deal, and said it expects to deliver results at the upper end of its revised range.

-Reporting by Tharuniyaa Lakshmi in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips/Reuters