LONDON, Nov 25: European stock markets climbed on Monday after Iran struck a landmark deal on its nuclear programme that will see sanctions eased on the key oil exporter.

The accord reached over the weekend in Geneva sent oil prices down, weighing on the share prices in energy groups but boosting airlines facing huge fuel costs.

London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index added 0.30 per cent to 6,694.62 points, Frankfurt’s DAX 30 climbed 0.88pc to a new record close of 9,299.95 points, while the CAC 40 in Paris rose 0.55pc to 4,301.97 points.

IAG, parent of British Airways and Iberia, rallied 2.8pc to 372.8 pence and Easyjet climbed 2.1pc to 1,434 pence. German carrier Lufthansa advanced 1.8pc to 16.06 euros, and Air France-KLM added 1.9pc to 7.64 euros.

BP fell 0.68pc to 490.1 pence and Royal Dutch Shell ‘A’ shares lost 0.4pc to 2,097 pence.

In foreign exchange activity, the European single currency fell to $1.3496 from $1.3555 late in New York on Friday.

But the euro reached 137.99 yen the highest level since October 2009. It later settled back to 137.25, up marginally from Friday.

The dollar hit a six-month high of 101.92 yen, then slid back to 101.70, up from 101.23 on Friday. The Japanese currency is considered by markets to be a safe bet.

The euro rose to 0.8363 pence against the British pound, which fell to $1.6137.

On the London Bullion Market, the price of gold climbed to $1,243 an ounce from $1,225.55 on Friday. —AFP