BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - The European markets ended the first session of the new trading week with mixed results. Technology stocks continued their recent struggles, while bank stocks continued to rise after the Basel III announcement last week.
Traders are looking forward to a number of central bank meetings this week. The Bank of England, European Central Bank and Swiss National Bank will all announce their respective policy decisions this week, as well as the Federal Reserve.
The FTSE of the UK outperformed the rest of Europe Monday. A weakening in the value of the British pound provided a boost to shares of exporters. France's economy is expected to grow at a steady pace in the fourth quarter, according to survey data from the Bank of France.
Gross domestic product is expected to climb 0.5 percent in the fourth quarter, unchanged from the second estimate released in November. The economy had expanded 0.5 percent in the third quarter.
The British Chambers of Commerce on Monday downgraded its growth projection citing weak household spending and business investment through the forecast period and less contribution from net trade due to Brexit uncertainty.
The projection for 2017 was cut to 1.5 percent from 1.6 percent. The business lobby projected 1.1 percent growth next year instead of 1.2 percent.
Going forward, the economy is forecast to expand 1.3 percent in 2019, which was also slightly slower than the previous projection of 1.4 percent.
The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index weakened by 0.11 percent. The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks decreased 0.26 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, added 0.04 percent.
The DAX of Germany dropped 0.23 percent and the CAC 40 of France fell 0.23 percent. The FTSE 100 of the U.K. gained 0.80 percent, but the SMI of Switzerland finished lower by 0.05 percent.
In Frankfurt, Siemens advanced 1.78 percent after Morgan Stanley raised its target price on the stock.
Troubled retailer Steinhoff jumped 24.15 percent to snap three sessions of heavy losses.
Wirecard lost 0.74 percent after signing a pact to enter into exclusive negotiations with Crédit Agricole Payment Services.
In London, Investec climbed 3.53 percent. The company reassured investors that it is not expecting to suffer any losses on its credit exposures to the Steinhoff Group of companies.
Hurricane Energy surged 12.96 percent after the company unveiled a new competent persons report for the 'Rona Ridge' assets, excluding the Lancaster oil field.
BAE Systems finished unchanged after the defense contractor agreed a £5bn contract to supply 24 Typhoon fighter jets to Qatar.
Defense contractor Leonardo rose 0.10 percent in Milan following an upbeat note from Goldman Sachs.
Italy's retail sales decreased in October after recovering a month ago, the statistical office Istat said Monday. Retail sales fell 1 percent month-on-month, reversing a 0.8 percent rise in September. A similar large decline was last seen in November 2016.
UK house prices are forecast to rise at a slower pace next year, property website Rightmove reported Monday. House price growth is expected to cool to 1 percent in 2018, the slowest rise since 2011. Prices increased around 1.2 percent this year.
China consumer inflation slowed more than forecast in November, driven by a decline in food prices, and producer inflation matched forecasts, giving scope for policy makers to maintain prudent monetary policy.
The consumer price index climbed 1.7 percent on year, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed Saturday. This missed forecasts for an increase of 1.8 percent and follows a 1.9 percent surge in the previous month.
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