European bourses advanced in thin trade, with markets in the US, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan all closed for local holidays. The benchmark pan-European Stoxx 600 index (which includes UK equities) gained +1.32%, with Basic Resources (up +4.0%), Oil and Gas (+3.99%) and Banks (+3.1%) leading the advance. Germany's DAX gained +0.56% and France's CAC +1.45%. Vivendi SE soared +19.62% after the French conglomerate said it may spin out Universal Music Group (UMG) in Amsterdam and distribute 60% of the capital to investors by year end. Vivendi, which is controlled by billionaire Vincent Bollore, announced the plan on Saturday (13 February) after it completed the sale of a 10% stake in UMG to a consortium led by Tencent Holdings, which valued UMG at €30B. Ten-year bond yields in Germany, France and the Netherlands all rose to their highest level since September as reflation expectations gripped markets. In economic data, eurozone industrial production dropped -1.6% in December from a month earlier, worse than economists’ forecast for a -0.6% drop and a marked downturn after growth of +2.6% in November. The ZEW Economic Sentiment Index for the eurozone/Germany for February and a second estimate of eurozone gross domestic product (GDP) growth for the fourth quarter are released tonight AEST.