European Shares Mostly Higher In Cautious Trade
(RTTNews) - European stocks were flat to slightly higher on Monday as investors braced for Donald Trump's inauguration as U.S. president later in the day.
Trading volumes were lighter than usual due to a holiday in the U.S. to commemorate Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
On a light day on the economic front, Germany's producer prices grew at a faster pace in December largely due to higher capital goods prices, data from Destatis showed.
The producer price index registered an annual growth of 0.8 percent after a 0.1 percent gain in November. Prices increased for the second straight month.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index was up 0.1 percent at 524.17, led by banks and technology stocks.
The benchmark index rose over 2 percent last week on Fed and ECB rate-cut optimism. The German DAX was marginally lower, while France's CAC 40 and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 both edged up by 0.2 percent.
Germany's Siemens Energy fell 2.5 percent after UBS downgraded the stock to "sell." Telefonica fell 1.7 percent after the Spanish telecom firm announced it has completed the refinancing of its main syndicated credit facility of €5.5 billion.
U.K.'s John Wood Group rose over 2 percent on securing a major contract for maintenance in Victoria's Gippsland Basin.
Digital payments specialist Bango soared 6 percent after reporting strong financial growth in 2024.