By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European stock markets traded mixed in
choppy action on Monday, with investors digesting upbeat Chinese
data, while Swatch Group AG rose after a solid earnings report.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index gained 0.1% to 288.51, adding to a
0.3% gain from Friday.
Shares of the world's largest watchmaker Swatch Group picked up
2.8%, after the firm reported a 26% rise in full-year profit and
said it had come off to a healthy start in 2013.
Shares of Suez Environnement SA jumped 4.9%, after HSBC lifted
the water and waste firm to overweight from neutral, citing an
improved business environment.
For the broader European stock markets, investors took
inspiration from China, where data over the weekend showed the
services sector expanded for a fourth straight month in January.
The non-manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index climbed to 56.2
from 56.1 in the final month of 2012. A reading above 50 signals
expansion.
Among notable movers in Europe, shares of UniCredit SpA dropped
3.1%, as UBS cut the Italian bank to neutral from buy. On Friday,
the bank lost 2.6%, after Reuters reported that employees at the
bank were being investigated for fraud related to derivatives
contracts.
The FTSE MIB index slumped 1.3% to 17,098.67.
In Germany, Deutsche Post AG fell 1.7%, after HSBC cut the firm
to underweight from neutral.
The DAX 30 index traded 0.1% lower at 7,282.72.
And in France, the CAC 40 index slipped 0.1% to 3,768.63. Shares
of Renault SA gave up 1.8%, as HSBC cut the car maker to neutral
from overweight.
In the U.K., shares of Johnson Matthey PLC tripped 1.9%, after
Citigroup downgraded the chemicals firm to neutral from buy.
The FTSE 100 index lost 0.3% to 6,331.49.
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