MILAN/FRANKFURT: A battered pound on growing fears of Brexit without a trade deal buoyed London's blue-chip index on Monday, while other major European indexes slipped as rising tension between the United States and China sapped appetite for risky assets. London's mid-caps index lost over 1%, while the blue-chip index closed up 0.1% after gaining as much as 0.8% in the session.

The FTSE 100 outperformed regional peers, thanks to a hammered pound as Brexit negotiators struggled over differences on fishing rights, fair competition and ways to solve future disputes. After adding about 14% over the last five weeks, the pan-European STOXX 600 index fell up to 1% before closing down 0.3%.

Germany's trade-sensitive DAX index lost 0.2%. Banks led losses in Europe as euro zone bonds yields fell. Finance-heavy indexes in Spain and Italy slipped more than 0.5%, while France's CAC 40 fell 0.6% after scaling a more than nine-month high on Friday. Limiting losses, tech stocks added 0.4%. Oil stocks slipped 0.4%. A continued surge in coronavirus cases globally pressured crude prices as it forced a series of renewed lockdowns.