Geoffrey Smith 

Investing.com — European stock markets were broadly higher on Monday, supported by action from the Chinese central bank to support a slowing economy.

For the first time in over two years, China’s central banks has reduced its one-year interest rate. It is a sign that they intend to create a safety net within an economy where there are varying degrees and policies of zero-Covid and pressure on real estate as well as financial sector.

Chinese fourth-quarter growth data released earlier were better than expected, but showed a sharp slowdown in retail sales growth in December as the northern hemisphere’s winter ushered in a fresh spate of local mobility restrictions. Many of Europe’s biggest consumer and industrial stocks depend to a large extent on the Chinese market for their profits.

5:45 AM ET (1145 GMT) The index was 0.5% higher at 483.58, the German was 0.3% higher, and the U.K was 0.6% up. French were 0.5% lower.

Russia and the Netherlands are two of the biggest exceptions. The first suffered from a 6.8% drop in Unilever (NYSE:) stock, after the Anglo-Dutch consumer giant’s 50 billion pound ($68 billion) offer for GlaxoSmithKline’s consumer health business was rejected.

The price and debt required to finance the acquisition were a concern for investors. GSK stock soared 3.7% to a two-year high on confidence that the final valuation for the unit will be substantially higher than Unilever’s offer.

After threats from the Kremlin of further military action against Ukraine, the Russian RTS Index fell by over 1% to an all-time low of 7% after talks broke down last week with the U.S., where Russia sought assurances it would not be permitted to join NATO.

The RTS has lost nearly one-quarter of its value since October against a backdrop of simultaneous diplomatic and economic pressure on Russia’s neighbors to neutralize the supposed threat from Ukraine and start the flow of gas through a new pipeline to Germany. Germany’s new Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock will meet with her counterparts in both Ukraine and Russia over the next two days.

Elsewhere, Credit Suisse (SIX) Stock fell another 1.6% following the resignation of Antonio Horta Osario as chairman. He was brought in to stop the alarming fall in bank value less than one year ago. Following a remarkable fall from grace which saw embarrassingly public management conflicts and some catastrophic errors of judgement, the bank is routinely being touted as a target for a takeover.

Foreign exchange markets were impacted by the U.S.’s withdrawal and the Federal Reserve being in an extended blackout. In the face of growing expectation that the European Central Bank would have to accelerate its tightening of monetary policy, euro fell to $1.1420.