Final IHS Markit manufacturing PMI readings for May showed activity in the euro zone hitting a record high 63.1, up from 62.9 in April and exceeding an initial flash estimate of 62.8.
In the U.K., factory activity rose to 65.6 in May from 60.9 in April, its sharpest increase since records began, as a windfall of new orders drove the country s industrial resurgence.
The European Commission on Monday proposed that vaccinated tourists should be exempted from mandatory testing or quarantine measures when travelling between EU nations, urging a progressive easing of travel restrictions to accommodate rising Covid-19 inoculations.
In corporate news, Atlantia investors on Monday backed the $11 billion sale of the Italian infrastructure group s stake in its motorway division to state bank CDP and allies Blackstone and Macquarie.
Back in Europe, the United Nations International Civil Aviation Organization will investigate Belarus over its forced grounding of a Ryanair passenger plane in order to arrest a dissident journalist, a move that triggered global outrage.
Meanwhile, Russia has blocked airspace to Air France and Austrian Airlines after the two carriers altered their flight plans to avoid its ally Belarus in protest at the government s actions.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has warned that the full lifting of England s coronavirus restrictions on June 21 may be delayed as cases in the country of the Covid variant first detected in India doubled over the past week.