Energy and defence stocks outperformed following the terrorist attack in Russia over the weekend.

Global tensions are also affecting market sentiment as the US, UK, and New Zealand accuse China of cyberespionage. The accusations involve a series of cyber breaches over the last decade, with the US Justice Department charging seven Chinese nationals for aiding China's economic espionage and foreign intelligence objectives.

Among stocks, Direct Line shares fell 11% in the UK after Belgian insurer Ageas said it will not make an offer for the company, after Direct Line rejected 2 offers.

Despite concerns over interest rates, shares of Ocado Group rose 3.4% after its joint venture reported a revenue increase. However, Dr Martens' shares dropped 5.6% after a downgrade by Goldman Sachs.

Flutter Entertainment reported a pretax loss of $1.09 billion for 2023, widening from $295 million the previous year, despite a 25% revenue increase to $11.79 billion. The loss was attributed to an impairment at its PokerStars business. The US business posted its first year of positive adjusted EBITDA after a 41% revenue jump. The company expects 2024 revenue growth of around 18% and further adjusted EBITDA growth of 30%.

Smiths Group reported a slight increase in half-year profit and announced its CEO's immediate departure. The engineering company's pretax profit rose 2.4% to £171 million, with revenue up 0.7% to £1.51 billion. Smiths Group also announced a £100 million share buyback program and reaffirmed its 2024 organic revenue growth guidance of 4-6%.

Investors are looking forward to economic data releases this week, including the US PCE core index, to gauge the direction of monetary policy. 

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