Europe midday: Weak Sentix survey, Syria weigh on Stoxx

(Sharecast News) - European shares pared gains on Monday as traders assessed the potential fallout from the collapse of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad's regime, while a weak eurozone investor survey also dented confidence. The pan-regional Stoxx 600 index was up 0.06% to 520.70. Investors are also eyeing a European Central Bank policy meeting later this week where the expectation is for another 25 basis point rate cut.

Assad's fall and subsequent flight to Russia after decades oppressing and torturing opponents aided by Russia and Iran was welcomed by many in the West, but analysts fear a power vacuum could pose a serious threat to stability in the region as rival factions battle for power.

In economic news, investor confidence in the eurozone weakened to its lowest level in 13 months in December, according to Sentix, on the back of gloomy economic data from Germany and political turmoil in France.

The Sentix overall economic index, which surveys thousands of institutional and retail investors each month, fell to -17.5, down from -12.8 in November, a level not seen since November 2023.

Elsewhere, China's leadership committed to "more proactive" fiscal measures and a moderately looser monetary policy for 2025 as inflation fell to its lowest level in five months indicating that recent stimulus measures from the government had failed to boost demand in the world's second-biggest economy.

The consumer price index rose 0.2% last month year-on-year, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics published on Monday, below the 0.3% increase in October and expectations of a 0.5% rise.

In equity news, shares in HelloFresh slumped on news that the US Department of Labor had launched an investigation into allegations that German meal-kit provider employed migrant children at a factory in Aurora, Illinois.

The claims suggest that at least six teenagers from Guatemala were working night shifts in cooking and packaging roles.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com