Europe midday: Stocks mixed despite massive surprise in German IFO

Shares were holding slightly lower ahead of the US central bank’s policy meeting on Wednesday and the result of a meeting of China’s top-ranking officials.

As of 11:58 the benchmark DJ Stoxx 600 fell 0.25% or 0.92 points to 376.44 and the Dax-30 was up by 8.07 points to 10,802.51.

The FTSE 100 was down 11.47 points or 0.18% to 6,432.61, while the Ibex 35 slipped 11.40 points to 10,466.10.

In October through Friday, the Stoxx 600 had pole-vaulted 8.5% higher, its biggest jump since 2009, led by German stocks.

“We maintain the view that equities will perform better into year end, and see Eurozone in particular as attractive. The following is a good combination: resilient PMIs, further ECB action likely, but at the same time [Euro Stoxx 50] lower versus six months ago,” JP Morgan’s Mislav Matejka said in a research note sent to clients.

Chinese Communist Party plenum in focus

At this week’s plenum, which started on Monday, China’s top-ranking officials were set to decide on their next five-year plan.

The focus was expected to be on reducing the state’s role in the economy and the possible reform of state owned enterprises. Authorities were also expected to unveil their GDP growth target for the coming years.

Massive surprise in German IFO survey

The Volkswagen scandal did not leave even so much as a debt on German businesses’ confidence, a survey from a leading think-tank revealed.

The IFO institute’s business confidence index for the month of October slipped to a reading of 108.2 from September’s 108.5. Economists had pencilled in a print of 107.8.

However, a sub-index of companies’ expectations improved to a reading of 103.8 after a print of 103.3 for the month before (consensus: 102.4).

“Surprisingly, the VW scandal did not play any role at all. Sentiment in the auto industry even improved! The overall manufacturing sector also held up well. As repeatedly said, we think that impulses from the US and the Eurozone will overcompensate for the weakness coming from emerging markets,” Andreas Rees, chief German economist at UniCredit Research said in a research note sent to clients.

Deutsche Bank in the dock again

Securitas AB jumped on news that Diebold Inc. had agreed to sell its North America security business.

Aberdeen Asset Management was higher on the heels of a report in the Financial Times – denied by the fund manager - that the firm had put itself on the block.

Another report from the FT dragged Deutsche Bank 1.7% lower. US regulators were expanding a money-laundering investigation into the lender’s Russian unit, the newspaper reported.

The euro/dollar was edging higher by 0.12% to hit 1.1024 and front month Brent crude futures up by 0.02% to $48.00 per barrel on the ICE.