UKX FTSE 100 Index

By Carla Mozee and Victor Reklaitis, MarketWatch

Germany's DAX scores 2016 closing high

European stocks finished roughly unchanged on Monday, with better-than-anticipated eurozone data serving as a pillar of support, while Spanish shares charged higher as a 10-month government impasse came to an end.

The Stoxx Europe 600 closed about flat at 344.26, as earlier gains faded.

Among top movers, Philips NV (PHG) finished 4.4% higher after the Dutch electronics company said third-quarter profit rose 18% (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/philips-profit-lifted-by-health-care-business-2016-10-24-14855420), aided by increased sales at its core health-care technology operations and cost savings.

PMI push: European stocks were bolstered somewhat by October purchasing managers' indexes from eurozone countries that rolled in Monday. Germany's DAX 30 climbed 0.5% to end at 10,761.17, nabbing its highest close this year, as services and manufacturing PMIs for Europe's largest economy exceeded expectations.

IHS Markit said its manufacturing PMI (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/eurozone-economy-picks-up-speed-in-october-2016-10-24-54851058) for the eurozone rose to a 30-month high at 53.3, better than a 52.6 estimate from a FactSet consensus of analysts. The services PMI's nine-month high of 53.5 was ahead of a 52.4 estimate.

"Both indicators have more than recovered the ground lost in the aftermath of the Brexit vote, confirming that the fallouts from the U.K. referendum have been muted so far," said UniCredit economist Edoardo Campanella in a note.

"Looking forward, the message of today's survey is fairly encouraging for the [European Central Bank]. The eurozone recovery is proving to be resilient even in the wake of weak global trade and rising oil prices, while inflationary pressures are slowly picking up."

The euro traded at $1.0890, up from $1.0873 ahead of the PMI data. The shared currency on Friday bought $1.0869.

Investors are waiting to hear what the ECB will decide to do about its quantitative easing program when it meets in December. The central bank purchases EUR80 billion a month in eurozone bonds and the program is scheduled to end in March.

The ECB doesn't appear likely to taper its bond buying, said analysts at J.P. Morgan Cazenove on Monday. But the possibility of an interest rate increase by the Federal Reserve "and rising inflation could lead to higher bond yields and to stronger dollar/weaker euro -- both a positive for [the] eurozone," J.P. Morgan said in a note about its decision to move eurozone equities to an overweight position.

Spain and Portugal: Meanwhile, Spain's IBEX 35 was the best performing country index, jumping by 1.3% to finish at 9,216.20. That move came as Mariano Rajoy was assured of re-election as prime minister (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/in-spain-months-of-political-deadlock-may-be-over-2016-10-24) when his Socialist rivals decided not to block his conservative party from forming a minority government.

"The good news ... is that Spain's political gridlock is now over," said Michala Marcussen, chief economist at Société Générale, in a note. "That will allow the country to start discussions on what potential additional austerity measures to take with Brussels. The fact that it is a minority government, however, entails that it is likely to be both weak and potentially unstable," she added.

Portugal's PSI 20 index rose 0.3% to 4,740.45 after ratings agency DBRS on Friday decided to maintain the country's investment grade rating (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dbrs-keeps-portugals-credit-rating-at-investment-grade-2016-10-21).

DBRS is the last of four agencies to hold Portugal at investment grade. A downgrade would've led Portugal to lose access to the ECB's bond-buying program, likely resulting in higher funding costs for the country and financial institutions.

Movers: Syngenta AG (SYNN.EB) shares dropped 5.8% after the Swiss seed and pesticide maker and ChemChina missed a deadline set by European regulators (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/syngenta-and-chemchina-miss-eu-deadline-2016-10-24) who are trying to sort out potential antitrust concerns stemming from the proposed buyout of Syngenta. Syngenta's quarterly results are due Tuesday.

Cobham PLC shares (COB.LN) tumbled 13% after the British defense contractor issued its second profit warning this year. (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/cobham-sees-2016-results-below-own-expectations-2016-10-24)

UniCredit SpA (UCG.MI) leapt 4% following reports that shareholder Leonardo Del Vecchio said he doesn't believe a capital increase by the Italian lender is needed.

EasyJet (EZJ.LN) picked up 1.4% following an upgrade to buy from neutral at UBS.

Other indexes: France's CAC 40 advanced 0.4% to 4,552.58. Italy's FTSE climbed 0.8% to 17,305.77 as UniCredit and other bank shares rose.

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index closed down 0.5% at 6,986.40.

The pound traded at $1.2210, down from $1.2229 late Friday.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 24, 2016 12:00 ET (16:00 GMT)

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