BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - The European markets ended the first session of the new trading week with small losses. The markets were under pressure due to the surge in the value of the Euro, which hit over a 2-year high against the U.S. dollar. The currency jumped after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi refrained from talking down the Euro at the Jackson Hole conference. Draghi did not express concern about a strong euro zone currency, as some market participants had expected.
Energy stocks were under pressure Monday, due to falling crude oil prices. Prices were weakening due to the reduced refining capacity in Texas after the flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey.
The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index weakened by 0.51 percent. The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks decreased 0.51 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, lost 0.49 percent.
The DAX of Germany dropped 0.37 percent and the CAC 40 of France fell 0.48 percent. The SMI of Switzerland finished lower by 0.47 percent and the FTSE 100 of the U.K. was closed for a holiday.
In Frankfurt, Volkswagen finished unchanged after a federal judge in Detroit sentenced former engineer James Liang to 40 months in prison for his role in a nearly 10-year conspiracy to defraud U.S. regulators and Volkswagen customers.
Real estate group Vonovia slid 0.10 percent after its supervisory board Chairman Wulf Bernota resigned for health reasons.
SGL Carbon climbed 3.46 percent after JPMorgan upgraded its rating on the stock to 'Overweight' from 'Neutral.'
In Paris, Sanofi fell 0.33 percent after completing the acquisition of Protein Sciences, a vaccines biotechnology company based in Connecticut, in the United States.
Altice rose 1.29 percent in Amsterdam after announcing a 1 billion euro share buyback.
Eurozone monetary aggregate rose at a slower pace in July, the European Central Bank reported Monday.
The M3 broad monetary aggregate climbed 4.5 percent annually, weaker than the 5.0 percent growth logged in June. Economists had forecast the M3 growth to improve to 4.9 percent.
Italy's consumer confidence improved more-than-expected in August to the highest level in eight months, while business confidence strengthened, survey data from the statistical office Istat showed Monday.
The consumer confidence index climbed to 110.8 in August from 106.9 in the previous month. Economists had expected the index to rise slightly to 107.0.
Data also showed that the composite business confidence index improved to 107.0 in August from 105.6 in July.
China's industrial profit growth eased in July from a year earlier, figures from the National Bureau of Statistics showed Monday.
Industrial profits grew at a slower rate of 16.5 percent year-over-year in July, following a 19.1 percent spike in June.
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