European Shares Mixed In Lackluster Trade

European stocks were subdued on Monday as hopes of early U.S. rate cuts faded and the Eurozone’s services PMI came in at 48.4 in January, down slightly from December’s 48.8.

U.K. stocks were seeing marginal gains after ONS figures suggested that Britain’s unemployment rate was much lower than initial estimates at the end of last year.

Meanwhile, the Eurozone Sentix Investor Confidence Index improved further from -15.8 in January to -12.9 in February.

The pan-European STOXX 600 was marginally lower at 483.77 after ending on a flat note Friday.

The German DAX slipped 0.1 percent and France’s CAC 40 shed 0.2 percent while the U.K.’s FTSE 100 was up 0.1 percent.

UniCredit surged 9.6 percent after the Italian banking group announced plans to boost shareholder returns and upgraded its 2024 profit outlook.

Porvair, a British filtration and environmental technology company, added 1.6 percent after reporting improved FY23 earnings and lifting dividend.

CMC Markets soared 13 percent after an announcement that the online trading platform is cutting 200 jobs to save on costs.

Vodafone fell about 1 percent despite the telecommunications company surpassing sales expectations in the third fiscal quarter.

Lloyds Bank fell 2.2 percent and Santander lost 5.5 percent after the Financial Times reported that Iran evaded sanctions and was able to covertly move money around the world using accounts at two of the U.K.’s biggest banks.

Societe Generale edged down slightly. The French lender announced that the implementation of organizational changes would result in approximately 900 job cuts at its head office without forced departures.

Supermarket group Casino was moving lower, giving up early gains after confirming that it has received expressions of interest for its hypermarket and supermarket stores.

Automaker Renault gained 1.3 percent on speculation over a potential combination with rival Stellantis.

Delivery Hero shares fell 2.8 percent despite the German online service provider for food…