European shares close mixed-to-lower
European shares pared gains to close mixed-to-lower on Monday, as investors reacted to corporate earnings and a state bailout for Portuguese lender Banco Espirito Santo.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 ended provisionally 0.1 percent lower at 1,330.9 on Monday afternoon. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 closed unofficially up 0.1 percent and the French CAC 40 ended 0.5 higher. However, the German Dax closed down 0.5 percent.
European markets
| TICKER | COMPANY | PRICE | CHANGE | %CHANGE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| .FTSE | FTSE 100 | 8,420.26 | -18.39 | -0.22% |
| .GDAXI | DAX | 18,704.42 | -34.39 | -0.18% |
| .FCHI | CAC 40 Index | 8,167.50 | -20.99 | -0.26% |
| .FTMIB | FTSE MIB | 35,398.82 | -11.31 | -0.03% |
| .IBEX | IBEX 35 Idx | 11,327.70 | +28.40 | +0.25% |
The Portuguese benchmark PSI 20 outperformed, closing 1.0 percent higher. This followed the news that Portugal will spend $6.6 billion to rescue troubled Banco Espirito Santo (BES), its largest bank by market cap.
Under the plan, BES will be split into a "good bank" named Novo Banco and a "bad bank", which will house BES's exposures to the troubled Espirito Santo business empire.
Read More BES's Brazil play poses warning for European banks
Shares of Portugal Telecom, which is exposed to BES, were volatile on Monday, but closed roughly 1.7 higher. The top performer on the PSI 20 was BES rival Banco Comercial Português, which ended around 5.7 percent higher.
HSBC reports
HSBC, Europe's largest bank by assets, posted another fall in pre-tax profit on Monday, as the bank continues the second phase of its turnaround plan. It shares closed up around 1.0 percent.
Read MoreHSBC warns on regulation as earnings fall again
Meanwhile, shares of Dutch company PostNL closed about 2.0 percent higher after it posted a 3.0 percent rise in second-quarter revenue on Monday.
On the data front, a June producer price index (PPI) for the euro zone showed a rise for the first time this year. Energy prices were the catalyst for the move, according to the official figures.
In addition, a purchasing managers' index (PMI) for the U.K. construction sector showed housebuilding grew at its fastest rate since 2003 last month.
U.S. stocks were little changed on Monday, despite companies including Berkshire Hathaway reporting results that beat expectations
Asian equity markets ended mixed on Monday as investors brushed off weak economic data from China over the weekend which showed growth in its services sector hit a in July.
Follow us on Twitter: @CNBCWorld