Europe midday: Shares in the red on Ukraine fears, Sentix survey

European stocks were still lower at midday on Monday after attacks on the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv and other cities by Russia, sparking worries that the war there would now escalate as Moscow’s campaign continued to falter.

The pan-regional Stoxx 600 was down 0.50%, with all major bourses lower. US stock index futures were down by around 0.2 – 0.5%. Asian markets were also weak, although holidays in Japan and South Korea meant volumes were thin.

Chinese tech stocks were hit by US export control measures aimed at slowing Beijing's technological advances. Markets were also hit by weak data from China, where services activity contracted for the first time in four months.

"Trade wars are back: Chinese tech stocks led the declines in Asian trade after the Biden administration imposed a set of sweeping export controls on Friday," said Markets.com analyst Neil Wilson.

"Stocks plunged at the end of the week following the US nonfarm payrolls report, which was strong enough to give the Federal Reserve plenty more cover to keep on raising rates. The Dow Jones rose 2% last week and the S&P 500 added 1.5%, but the jobs report erased much bigger gains."

In the UK, the Bank of England said it was on standby to double its daily government bonds purchases ahead of the final day of its emergency intervention programme on Friday.

The central bank originally said it would buy up to £5bn of long-dated gilts daily after finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng’s poorly-received package of unfunded tax cuts last month spooked investors, caused market turmoil and placed some of Britain’s major pension funds at risk.

Sentiment was also hit when a survey revealed that Eurozone investor morale fell for the third month in a row to its lowest level since May 2020.

The Sentix index for the eurozone slumped to -38.3 points in October from -31.8 in September.

Its expectations index also fell to -41.0 from -37.0, hitting its lowest value since December 2008 at the height of the financial crisis caused by the banking industry – “a clear warning of a very deep economic dislocation”.

In equity news, DS Smith shares surged as the packaging maker released an upbeat earnings update. The news also boosted sector rivals Smurfit Kappa and Mondi.

Student accommodation provider Unite was also up after saying earnings would be at the top end of expectations.

Shares in low-cost East-Europe focused airline Wizz Air fell on news of the attacks on Kyiv as did those of rivals easyJet and Lufthansa.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com