Europe midday: Stocks pare gains in calmer markets

The benchmark Stoxx 600 index was flat at 499.35, Germany’s DAX was 0.1% higher at 17,733.55, France’s CAC 40 was down 0.2% at 7,257.49 and Spain’s IBEX 35 was 0.1% firmer at 10,649.20.

Patrick Munnelly at Tickmill Group said traders might be hesitant to make large moves ahead of important US inflation data later this.

"Markets will be driven this week by speeches by Fed officials, China's monthly activity data, monetary policy meetings of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand and Norges Bank, US inflation data that is crucial to Federal Reserve interest rate forecasts, and US earnings releases," he said.

"The US July PPI on Tuesday and the July CPI on Wednesday could shed light on whether the markets have priced in the likelihood of a 50 basis point reduction in the Federal Reserve rate in September at 51%, in response to the weak July employment report."

Closer to home, the main focus this week will be on eurozone GDP and employment numbers due out on Wednesday.

In corporate news, German reinsurer Hannover Re jumped after solid second-quarter results.

BT Group rallied after Bharti Global bought Altice UK's 24.5% stake in the telecoms company.

"We welcome investors who recognise the long-term value of our business, and this scale of investment from Bharti Global is a great vote of confidence in the future of BT Group and our strategy," BT boss Alison Kirkby said.

In broker note action, JD Sports was knocked lower by a downgrade to ‘sell’ from ‘hold’ at Deutsche Bank, but Diageo fizzed higher after an upgrade to ‘sector perform’ from ‘underperform’ at RBC Capital Markets.