STOXX 600 flat as markets assess France's hung parliament prospects
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STOXX 600 flat, energy shares lead losses
Britvic gains on deals with Carlsberg
Delivery Hero drops after it flags potential antitrust fine
Updated at 1600 GMT
By Shubham Batra and Shristi Achar A
July 8 (Reuters) - European shares were muted on Monday as investors mulled chances of a hung parliament in France after the left alliance's unexpected advance in the election, while weak energy shares were a drag.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX ended flat at 516.43 points. The oil and gas sector .SXEP was the biggest drag on the benchmark index,down 1.1%, as crude prices took a hit. O/R
French stocks .FCHI gave up early gains to shed 0.6% on theprospect of taxing negotiations starting Monday to form a government, after a surprise left-wing surge blocked the far right's quest to win the snap election called by President Emmanuel Macron.
"A pact of coordination between the centre and the left was formed to reduce the chances of the latter. Arguably, this pact has been successful, but the outcome looks like a classic case of unintended consequences," said Jamie Ross, portfolio manager, European Equities at Janus Henderson Investors.
"If political wrangling reaches complete deadlock, some sort of a technocratic government would be the likely outcome. This would be a benign outcome for markets."
Shares of BNP Paribas BNPP.PA, France's largest bank, lost 1.7% while SocGen SOGN.PA fell 1.2%.
Datafrom Germany showed exports fell more than expected in May due to weak demand from China, the U.S and European countries. Market attention will shift to U.S. and German inflation data due later this week that will shape the narrative for the path of future interest rate cuts.
Friday's U.S. jobs report bolsteredthe case for a September rate cut from the Federal Reserve, lifting chances of an easing to77%. [FEDWATCH]
Among individual movers, Grifols GRLS.MC jumped 9.7% after the Grifols family and Canadian fund Brookfield agreed to launch a joint takeover bid for the Spanish drugmaker with plans to delist it.
UK's Britvic BVIC.L climbed 4.4% as the soft drinks maker said it has agreed to be taken over by Carlsberg CARLb.CO for 3.3 billion pounds ($4.23 billion) after the Danish brewer sweetened its bid.
Shares of Carlsberg also rose 3.3%.
Delivery Hero DHER.DE dropped 7.1% to the bottom of the STOXX 600 after it said it may face a fine exceeding400 million euros from Brussels due to antitrust violations.
ASML ASML.AS shares briefly crossed the 1,000 euro ($1,084.30) mark for the first time following positive research notes on top customer TSMC 2330.TW ahead of both companies' earnings reports. It ended 0.5% higher.
Reporting by Shubham Batra and Shristi Achar A in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala, Nivedita Bhattacharjee and Richard Chang
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