Following the sizable gains of the previous week, the European markets ended Monday's session with mixed results. The markets remained stuck in a sideways pattern throughout the day and finished little changed overall. Investor sentiment was negatively impacted by the release of some weaker than expected economic data at the start of the new trading week. German industrial output unexpectedly fell 1.1 percent in June, while investor confidence in the euro zone declined for the second straight month in August to the lowest level in three months.
The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index weakened by 0.14 percent. The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks decreased 0.05 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, lost 0.19 percent.
The DAX of Germany dropped 0.33 percent, but the CAC 40 of France rose 0.09 percent. The FTSE 100 of the U.K. gained 0.27 percent, but the SMI of Switzerland finished lower by 0.24 percent.
In Frankfurt, Fresenius Medical Care fell 1.42 percent. The company has signed an agreement to acquire NxStage Medical, Inc. , a U.S.-based medical technology and services company.
Telecommunications provider QSC tumbled 8.11 percent after reporting a drop in second-quarter revenues.
In Paris, Renault advanced 0.38 percent after the carmaker signed a landmark joint venture deal to build more than 150,000 cars a year in Iran.
In London, Paddy Power Betfair sank 4.73 percent. The gambling firm announced the departure of its CEO Breon Corcoran after 16 years with the Group and its predecessor companies.
Shares of 21st Century Technology soared nearly 21 percent after the specialist provider of tailored solutions to the transport community announced a 3-year bus systems and services contract with Abellio.
Mining stocks performed well Monday, thanks to the rise in the price of iron ore. Anglo American climbed 3.11 percent and Rio Tinto rose 2.57 percent. Glencore advanced 2.59 percent and BHP Billiton added 2.27 percent.
Postal firm PostNL sank 5.08 percent in Amsterdam after saying that regulatory changes would impact its FY outlook.
Banco BPM gained 2.51 percent in Milan after the lender agreed to sell its asset management business Aletti Gestielle SGR to domestic rival Anima Holding.
Eurozone investor confidence declined for the second straight month in August to the lowest level in three months, survey results from think tank Sentix showed Monday. The investor confidence index dropped to a 3-month low of 27.7 in August from 28.3 in July. The score was expected to fall to 27.6.
German industrial production decreased unexpectedly in June, which was the first fall this year, as all sectors except energy experienced contraction. Industrial output fell 1.1 percent month-on-month in June, in contrast to a 1.2 percent rise seen in May, data from Destatis revealed Monday.
Production declined for the first time in six months, while economists had forecast a modest 0.1 percent gain.
UK house price inflation slowed to a more than four-year low in July, data from the mortgage lender Halifax and IHS Markit showed Monday.
House prices increased 2.1 percent year-on-year in three months to July, following the 2.6 percent rise seen in three months to June. This was the weakest growth since April 2013. Prices were forecast to gain 2 percent.
UK consumer spending decreased for a third straight month in July, marking the longest period of decline since early 2013, results of a survey by the global payments technology provider Visa showed Monday.
The UK Consumer Spending Index fell 0.8 percent year-on-year in July following 0.2 percent decline in June, Visa said.
Spending has now declined in each of the past three months, to mark the longest period of deterioration since the five-month sequence ending in February 2013, the report said.
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Market Analysis
December 26, 2025 08:42 ET Third quarter economic growth data from some major economies including the U.S. were the main news in this holiday shortened week. GDP growth and industrial production data from the U.S. helped to boost morale, while the consumer confidence survey results were less upbeat. In Europe, the quarterly economic growth data from the U.K. drew attention, while the minutes of the Australian central bank’s latest policy session was in focus in Asia.