European shares were subdued on Monday, with French stocks lagging after Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu named a new finance minister, while gains in technology and energy stocks helped limit broader losses.
The pan-European STOXX 600 inched 0.1% lower to 570.1 points by 0712 GMT. The index briefly hit an intraday record high on Monday after climbing more than 2.8% last week.
French stocks were down 0.7% after Lecornu named Roland Lescure, a close ally of President Emmanuel Macron, as finance minister on Sunday.
Eurozone banks dipped 0.6%, with French lenders Societe Generale, Credit Agricole and BNP Paribas leading declines.
Keeping broader losses at bay, oil and gas gained 0.8% tracking higher oil prices after OPEC+’s planned production increase for November was more modest than expected.
Technology stocksalso advanced 0.5%, with heavyweight ASML up 1.6% early on.
Among other moving stocks, SEB slid 22.3% after the French kitchenware maker cut its annual sales and profit forecast.
UK’s Aston Martin dropped 6.8% after the luxury carmaker warned of a full-year loss that would be bigger than market consensus.
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