European Shares Mixed In Cautious Trade

European stocks were mixed on Monday as U.S. stimulus hopes were offset by concerns surrounding tighter border restrictions and extended Coivd-19 lockdowns.

Meanwhile, German business confidence weakened in January, survey results from the ifo institute revealed.

The business confidence index fell to 90.1 in January from revised 92.2 in the previous month. The score was forecast to drop moderately to 91.8.

The pan European Stoxx 600 edged up 0.2 percent to 409.43 after losing 0.6 percent on Friday. The German DAX was marginally higher, while France's CAC 40 index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 slid around 0.2 percent.

Siemens Energy shares climbed 1.4 percent. The company, which was spun off from Siemens AG last year, reported that preliminary revenue for the first quarter of fiscal year 2021 increased by 2.6 percent to 6.54 billion euros. The company confirmed its outlook for fiscal year 2021.

Dutch health technology company Philips advanced 2.3 percent after it reported a 7 percent increase in fourth-quarter core profit.

British drug major AstraZeneca advanced 1.5 percent after it announced positive high-level results from the ELEVATE-RR Phase III trial of Calquence against ibrutinib in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia.

Recruiter SThree Plc surged 2.6 percent after its annual profit beat forecasts.

Ricardo, an engineering, technical, environmental and strategic consultancy business, jumped 5 percent.

The company noted that order intake, revenue and operating profit all increased during the six months ended December 31, compared to the six months to June 30, 2020.

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