12:05 PM EDT, 08/11/2025 (MT Newswires) -- The European stock markets closed mostly lower in Monday trading as The Stoxx Europe 600 was off 0.1%, Germany's DAX fell 0.46% France's CAC declined 0.59%, the Swiss Market Index was down 0.5%, while the FTSE 100 closed 0.33% higher.

Norway's Ministry of Finance has asked the country's central bank to review investments of the sovereign wealth fund in Israeli companies, and to possibly propose new measures, the $1.96 trillion sovereign wealth fund said in a statement.

"We have initiated the review and are in close dialogue with the Council on Ethics and have meetings with the Ministry of Finance," the Government Pension Fund Global said. "We will formally respond to the Ministry's letter as soon as possible and before the deadline" on Aug. 20.

Norway's Government Pension Fund Global said that it was invested in 61 Israeli companies as of the end of the first half of the year.

In corporate news, GSK said Monday the US Food and Drug Administration has accepted for priority review a supplemental new drug application for gepotidacin for the oral treatment for uncomplicated urogenital gonorrhoea in patients 12 years and older, with a decision expected by Dec. 11.

The drug could provide an alternative to current injectable treatments for the sexually transmitted infection, the British pharmaceutical company said. The submission is supported by phase 3 trial data showing a 92.6% success rate for gepotidacin, compared to 91.2% for standard combination therapy, with no cases of bacterial persistence, GSK said.

The treatment was well-tolerated with mostly mild to moderate gastrointestinal side effects and no serious drug-related adverse events, the company said.

Shares of GSK gained 0.5% on the FTSE 100.

BNP Paribas' AXA Investment Management is in advanced talks to buy a roughly 30% stake in FiberPass, a fiber optic broadband joint venture between Telefonica and Vodafone Spain, the Financial Times reported Monday, citing two people familiar with the talks.

Vodafone Group sold Vodafone Spain to Zegona Communications last year for 5 billion euros ($5.8 billion), the report said.

AXA Investment Management, BNP Paribas, Telefonica and Vodafone didn't immediately respond to requests for comment from MT Newswires.

Shares of Vodafone Group gained 1.7% in London, while BNP Paribas edged 0.06% lower.

Novartis said Monday that two phase 3 trials assessing ianalumab in adults with active Sjogren's disease met the primary endpoint of showing "statistically significant" improvements in disease activity. Ianalumab was "well tolerated" and showed a "favorable" safety profile in Sjogren's disease, a chronic and disabling autoimmune disease, the company said.

Shares of the Swiss pharmaceutical company closed 1.8% higher in Zurich.

UK-based Oxford Nanopore Technologies said Monday that Chief Executive Gordon Sanghera will step down from his role, as well as from the board, by the end of 2026, after more than 20 years in the position. The company said it has launched a formal search for a successor.

Oxford Nanopore Technologies stock was down 3.7% in London trading.