U.S. stocks reversed a five-day down streak to start the week higher on Monday with a rally in Tech stocks outweighing losses in Boeing Co after a second crash involving the company’s 737 Max 8 airliner. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 200.64 points, or 0.8%, to 25,650.88 with the S&P 500 gaining 40.23 points, or 1.5%, to 2,783.30. The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 149.92 points, or 2%, to 7,558.06 to mark its best single-day gain since 30th January.

European markets also ended the session higher, helped by gains in the financial sector and with investors also awaiting the UK Parliament’s vote on Prime Minster Theresa May’s much debated EU Withdrawal Agreement. The Stoxx Europe 600 gained 0.8% to 373.47 with the German DAX adding 0.8% to 11,543.48. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 meanwhile, advanced 0.4% to close at 7,130.62.

Maltese markets also started the week in positive territory with the MSE Equity Total Return Index closing 1.697% higher at 9,320.818 points. The biggest gains were seen by Mapfre Middlesea Plc with shares closing up 10% at €2.20. International Hotel Investments Plc followed behind with shares closing up 5.41% at €0.78. Simonds Farsons Cisk Plc jumped 2.94% to €8.75 on the back of a single trade of just eight shares.

T-Mobile – Sprint merger

The chief executives of T-Mobile US Inc and Sprint Corp, which are seeking to merge, head back to the White House on Tuesday to defend their planned $26 billion deal which had been contemplated several years ago, but officials in President Barack Obama’s administration urged the companies to drop the idea, which they did. To win support for the deal, T-Mobile previously said it would not increase prices for three years. Sprint said it hopes to complete the regulatory approval process by the end of June.

The agreement to combine the 3rd and 4th largest U.S. wireless carriers, struck in April, was approved by both companies’ shareholders in October and has received national security clearance, but needs approval from the Justice Department and the Federal Communications Commission. To defend the proposed transaction, T-Mobile Chief Executive John Legere pointed to the company’s history of aggressive pricing, said it would need 11,000 new employees by 2024 and pledged to building the next generation of wireless, called 5G, without equipment from Huawei Technologies Co Ltd or ZTE Corp, two Chinese telecommunications firms distrusted by U.S. national security experts.