11:58 AM EDT, 03/30/2026 (MT Newswires) -- European stock markets were tracking higher in Monday trading as the Stoxx Europe gained 0.8%, Germany's DAX rose 0.9%, the FTSE 100 was up 1.4%, while France's CAC and the Swiss Market Index increased 0.8% each.

In Germany, the annual consumer price index is forecast to rise 2.7% in March, from 1.9% in February, according to preliminary results from the Federal Statistical Office, which also said it expects consumer prices to rise by 1.1% on a monthly basis. It also said it is the first time energy prices have increased since December 2023.

The rise in monthly and yearly CPI met analyst forecasts, according to Bloomberg.

The FSO also said it estimates core inflation, which excludes food and energy, will rise 2.5% from March 2025, with energy prices projected to increase 7.2% from a year earlier.

And in corporate news, TotalEnergies said Monday it has completed the merger of NEO NEXT with its UK upstream oil and gas business. The company said the combined entity, now called NEO NEXT+, gives TotalEnergies a 47.5% stake.

Shares of the French oil and gas company rose 3.2% in Paris.

Novartis said Sunday that its drug Fabhalta showed "statistically significant, clinically meaningful improvement" in kidney function among patients with IgA nephropathy, or Berger's disease, in a phase three study.

The company said the drug decreased kidney function decline by 49.3% over two years compared with a placebo, "demonstrating a slowing of disease progression and the potential to preserve kidney function."

The Food and Drug Administration granted priority review for Fabhalta based on the strength of the data, the company added.

Shares of the Swiss pharmaceutical company gained 0.6% in Zurich.

GSK said Monday China's National Medical Products Administration approved its asthma medication Exdensur and accepted a new drug application for its chronic hepatitis B therapy, bepirovirsen.

The approved drug is authorized as an add-on maintenance treatment for severe asthma in patients 12 years and older following Phase 3 Swift trials that demonstrated a 48% to 58% reduction in asthma attacks, the company said.

Shares of the British pharmaceutical company were up 0.7% in London.

Deutsche Bank is working with SMS Group and Altor Equity Partners to help them explore a potential sale of their combined 50% stake in German industrial services firm Kaefer, Bloomberg News reported Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Kaefer could be valued at more than 2 billion euros ($2.3 billion) in a sale, the unnamed sources told the news outlet.

Deutsche Bank declined to comment, while Kaefer, SMS Group, and Altor didn't immediately respond to MT Newswires' requests for comment.

Shares of the German bank edged 0.1% higher in Frankfurt.

HSBC, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, and five other banks helped French AI provider Mistral raise $830 million in new debt to buy 13,800 Nvidia chips for a data center near Paris, multiple media outlets reported Monday.

The data center site was chosen by Mistral in February 2025 and is expected to become operational in Q2 of 2026, according to the reports citing a statement from Mistral.

Mistral, Nvidia, HSBC and MUFG did not immediately respond to MT Newswires' request for comment on the matter.

Shares of HSBC were up 1% in London.