Europe midday: Stocks little changed ahead of key EU leaders' meeting, vaccine update

An early rally had stalled come midday as investors waited to see if a key meeting of European Union leaders later on Monday would yield a breakthrough in talks to launch a reconstruction fund for the bloc.

Talks that had been scheduled to end on Sunday ended up continuing through the night, but in the end the four countries which had held out against a deal - Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden - had reportedly agreed to €390bn in aid being extended in the form of grants, versus an initial proposal for €500bn.

Negotiations were set to resume at 1500 BST but the final size of the fund, once low interest loans were included, and what controls would be put in place had yet to be agreed.

"A deal would mark a breakthrough for the EU and show that the bloc can respond to an era-defining crisis with one voice," said Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com.

"Failure today is not the end of the road by any means, but it could produce a negative reaction in Euro-area sovereign debt, European equities and the euro."

Investors were also waiting with bated breath on the details of an early trial into Oxford University and AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine candidate.

Against that backdrop, as of 1201 BST the benchmark Stoxx 600 was flat at 372.76, alongside a 0.23% rise for the German Dax to 12,949.06 and a 0.06% dip on the FTSE Mibtel to 20,407.67.

Euro/dollar meanwhile was probing four-month highs alongside, adding 0.29% to 1.1461.

A sub-index for Healthcare issues was the top gainer on the Stoxx 600, advancing 0.97%, followed close behind by a gauge for Technology ones that was up by 0.49%.

It had already been a good day thus far for companies investigating potential treatments for Covid-19.

Shares of Sweden's Enzymatica AB were 80% higher after the preliminary results of an in vitro study showed that mouth spray ColdZyme could deactivate SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing the COVID-19 pandemic, by 98.3%.

Stock in the UK's Synairgen however was the main talking point in markets after the AIM-listed firm said that one of its treatments can sharply cut the risk of passing to severe forms of Covid-19.

In Russia meanwhile, researchers announced positive results for an experimental Covid-19 vaccine, although few details were forthcoming.

On home shores, the government announced deals with Pfizer, BioNTech and Valneva to supply 90m Covid-19 vaccine shots.