OTTAWA (dpa-AFX) - European stocks were unable to sustain early gains Monday as jittery investors continued to focus on geopolitical tensions the sluggish euro zone economy.
Portugal's central bank Sunday announced a plan to rescue the troubled lender Banco Espirito Santo or BES to protect taxpayers and senior creditors.
In a 4.9 billion euros bailout that will leave junior bondholders with losses, the lender will be split into a 'good bank' with the healthy assets and 'bad bank' with the riskier ones under a state rescue plan.
Markets initially cheered the move, but enthusiasm waned by lunch hour.
The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks inched up 0.07 percent.
The German DAX eased 0.5 percent, the French CAC 40 gained 0.47 percent and the UK's FTSE 100 picked up 0.07 percent.
Adidas lost 0.9 percent. Berenberg cut the stock to 'Sell' from 'Buy.'
HSBC rose 1 percent, after reporting first-half results.
Intertek picked up 6.7 percent. The quality and safety services provider approved a higher interim dividend.
Dutch mail firm PostNL reported increased second-quarter profit, amid revenue growth. The stock picked up 2.2 percent.
In economic news, Eurozone producer prices continued to decline in June, but at a slower pace from prior year, Eurostat reported.
Meanwhile, Eurozone investor confidence declined sharply in August as sanctions imposed by the EU on Russia weighed on economic assessment, survey figures from the think-tank Sentix showed.
U.K 's construction activity grew at the fastest pace since 2007, exceeding the consensus estimate, led by increased house building work, results of a survey by the Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply and Markit Economics revealed.
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