European stocks little changed following biggest weekly drop since November

On Monday European stocks were little changed, after posting their biggest weekly drop since November, as traders assessed the extent to which global growth can withstand political crises in the U.S. and Brazil.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index was at 391.11 as of 8:30 a.m. in London. Mining shares were the second-best performing sector, extending Friday’s gains, while energy stocks also rose amid bets that cuts to crude supplies will be extended. The Stoxx 600 added 0.6 percent on Friday, trimming last week’s decline to 1 percent.

European Union ministers meet in Brussels on Monday to refine their Brexit negotiating position after the U.K. threatened to quit talks on its departure unless the bloc drops its demands for a divorce payment as high as 100 billion euros.

Britain’s negotiations would otherwise be plunged into “chaos,” Brexit Secretary David Davis said in an interview published in the Sunday Times. Even a 1 billion pound settlement would be “a lot of money,” he said.

The size of Britain’s exit bill, and which types of negotiations can begin before it is determined, has been a source of debate for weeks and will prove an early test of the ability of both sides to find common ground.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has said the U.K. will have to pay about 50 billion pounds while Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel has signaled a figure between 40 billion euros and 60 billion euros. The Financial Times estimated the cost could balloon to 100 billion euros, while a study by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales put the cost at as low as 5 billion pounds.

Asian stocks rebounded after last week’s upheaval, as a rally in energy and commodity producers sent the regional benchmark back near the highest level in two years. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index advanced 0.8 percent to 151.93 as of 4:28 p.m. in Hong Kong.