12:19 PM EST, 11/18/2024 (MT Newswires) -- The European stock markets closed mixed in Monday trading as The Stoxx Europe was off 0.10%, Germany's DAX was down 0.18%, the FTSE in London rose 0.57%, France's CAC was up 0.12%, and the Swiss Market Index gained 0.11%.

Preliminary estimates from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, showed the euro area had a 12.5-billion-euro ($13.22 billion) surplus in trade in goods with the rest of the world in September, up from 9.8 billion euros a year earlier. The value of euro area exports of goods to the rest of the world was 237.8 billion euros in September, up 0.6% from a year earlier.

In Germany, exports rose 0.5% in Q3 to 384 billion euros compared with a year earlier, according to the Federal Statistical Office, which also reported that exports to EU member states declined 1% during the quarter to 204.8 billion euros.

In Switzerland, secondary sector production increased 3.3% in Q3 compared with the same quarter a year earlier, according to preliminary results from the Swiss Federal Statistical Office.

And in corporate news, HSBC has asked senior staff to reapply for jobs in its newly formed corporate and institutional banking division, which will result in the dismissal of several hundred managing directors and other senior bankers in the coming weeks, Bloomberg News reported Monday. HSBC declined MT Newswires' request for comment on the matter. Shares rose 1.5% in London.

Shares of Melrose Industries climbed more than 7% in Monday trading on the FTSE after it reported that it expects its cash flow position to improve and "deliver substantial free cash flow" in the coming year.

British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca said Monday that its drug Tagrisso has been recommended for approval in the European Union to treat adult patients with locally advanced, inoperable non-small cell lung cancer with specific tumor types.

The Federal Court of Justice in Germany said that users of Meta Platforms' Facebook whose data was illegally obtained in 2018 and 2019 are eligible for compensation, Reuters reported Monday. "We disagree with the comments from the Federal Court of Justice in relation to damages, which we believe are out of line with recent rulings by the Court of Justice of the EU, the highest court in Europe," a spokesperson for Meta told MT Newswires.

Rolls-Royce said the UK Space Agency has granted the British aerospace and defense company funding toward researching the possibility of using nuclear power to support a base on the Moon.