The China Mail - Frankfurt stocks, euro rise on German vote outcome

Elsewhere, London edged up but Paris slipped tracking losses in Asia and on Wall Street.

Frankfurt's DAX index gained 0.8 percent in midday deals after Merz urged a speedy formation of a new coalition government.

He warned that as US President Donald Trump is driving rapid and disruptive changes, "the world isn't waiting for us".

"The hope that the conservatives' win might help pull Germany out of economic stupor and help bolster collective defence, has lifted investor spirits," said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown.

European defence stocks gained, with Germany's Rheinmetall up nearly four percent and Britain's BAE Systems up almost three percent.

The gains came "off the back of Merz’s call for Europe to seek independence from the US -- with the obvious inference that the continent needs to take more responsibility for its own security", said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.

With more than 28 percent of the vote, Merz's CDU/CSU bloc handily defeated Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats and the Greens, as the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany celebrated a record of over 20 percent.

Elsewhere Monday, shares in Amsterdam-listed Just Eat Takeaway soared 53 percent after it received a 4.1-billion-euro ($4.3-billion) takeover offer from investment giant Prosus.

Asian equity markets mostly fell following a dour end to last week for Wall Street fuelled by disappointing economic data.

A report showed activity in the US key services sector hit a 25-month low in February, while separate data indicated consumer sentiment dived almost 10 percent from January.

The readings follow a recent run of figures pointing to a softening of the labour market and prices continuing to rise faster than the Federal Reserve's target rate.

Investors have increasingly feared the inflationary impact of Trump's plans to impose import tariffs and slash taxes, immigration and regulation.

That has led investors to scale back their expectations for how many interest rate cuts the Fed will make this year.

Shanghai fell and Hong Kong retreated from Friday's blockbuster rally fuelled by tech firms, in particular e-commerce titan Alibaba.

Oil prices edged up after dropping as much as three percent on Friday as the weak US data sparked demand fears, while there are also growing expectations Trump will ease the sanctions that have limited Russian oil exports.

- Key figures around 1100 GMT -

Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.8 percent at 22,470.06 points

Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.2 percent at 8,141.35

London - FTSE 100: UP 0.2 percent at 8,675.44

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.6 percent at 23,341.61 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.2 percent at 3,373.03 (close)

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: Closed for a holiday

New York - Dow: DOWN 1.7 percent at 43,428.02 (close)

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0475 from $1.0462 on Friday

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2640 from $1.2628

Dollar/yen: UP at 149.62 from 149.32 yen

Euro/pound: UP at 82.90 pence from 82.81 pence

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.2 percent at $74.18 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.2 percent at $70.51 per barrel

V.Fan--ThChM