European equities finished mixed on Monday, after a choppy day of trade, as investors kept and eye on the oil price and watched for progress being made in concluding a third bailout program for Greece.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index pared losses to finish around 0.3 percent higher on Monday afternoon after fluctuating earlier in the session.
European markets
London's FTSE 100 ended flat, with miners the major under performers as commodity prices remained in focus. The French CAC recovered, finishing up 0.7 percent, while Germany's DAX ended around 0.3 percent lower.
The DAX sank as much as 1.3 percent lower earlier in the session, hitting its lowest level in over a month, with Reuters attributing this to the weak manufacturing data from the state of New York.
Greece's stock exchange outperformed other indexes, finishing 1 percent higher.
U.S. stocks traded higher on Monday after the release of positive homebuilder data as investors digested weak manufacturing data and falling oil prices while eyeing the release of the Federal Reserve's minutes.
In the U.S., investors were digesting the latest manufacturing data. The National Association of Home Builders index rose 1 point to 61, its highest level since November 2005. However, New York's manufacturing activity fell from 3.86 in July to -14.92 in August, its lowest since April 2009; causing ripple effects for the German DAX.
Alstom soars 7%
Alstom was the best performer on the STOXX 600, closing around 7 percent higher on reports that General Electric would shortly secure European Union approval for its 12.4 billion euros ($13.7 billion) purchase of the French multinational's power business.
Shares of TUI, the world's largest leisure tourism group, closed around 1.8 percent higher on a report in The Times newspaper that the group could divest its non-core holiday brands such as hotelbeds.com and Crystal Ski Holidays.
Shares of French-listed Airbus finished close to 1 percent higher after Reuters reported that India's budget airline IndiGo had committed to buying 250 A320Neo aircraft; however by the afternoon, it pared gains, trading 0.3 percent higher.
Meanwhile, in commodity markets oil fell towards six-year lows on Monday, due to data showing the economy of Japan - one the world's biggest oil consumers - contracted in the second quarter. However, oil did pare some losses, with WTI crude trading at $42.60 per barrel, while Brent was trading at $49.14 per barrel at 4.30 p.m. London time.
All eyes watch Greece
Investors will be keeping an eye on developments on the conclusion of a third rescue plan for Greece, with national parliaments voting this week on whether to ratify the deal. The Greek parliament and euro zone finance ministers approved a draft deal on Friday.
German lawmakers are expected to vote on the bailout on Wednesday, and at the weekend German Chancellor Angela Merkel was keen to quell objections within the German parliament to the latest 86 billion euro aid package. Speaking to German broadcaster ZDF, Merkel tried to reassure skeptics that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) would be involved in the package.
The IMF has said repeatedly that It won't take part without debt relief for Greece, something Germany opposes, although the country has said it is willing to consider extending Greek debt maturities.
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