Burnham, a potential successor to the UK prime minister, said a "Northern No.10" would be tasked with driving parity of living standards across UK regions.

A-share chemical and pharmaceutical sector rallied intraday; Guangshengtang rose more than 15%, Haisco hit the daily trading limit, and Betta Pharmaceuticals and Jinshi Yiyao also gained.

A Europe-wide heatwave forced EDF to curtail nuclear generation after river water temperatures rose above safe cooling limits, driving French nuclear output to a near nine-month low. RTE data show average nuclear generation fell below 33 GW on Sunday, the lowest since Oct. 5 last year. Air temperatures have eased from last week’s peak, but river cooling lags, and a potential repeat heat spell next week risks further restrictions. Supply concerns pushed French July power futures up as much as 27% on Monday to €81.01/MWh (about $92.42), the highest near-month level since January.