Europe midday: Shares extend gains on quiet day

(Sharecast News) - European shares extended gains on the first trading day after the Christmas break.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was up 0.43% at 505.98 with major bourses all higher in what was expected to be a day of thin volumes ahead of the weekend with the New Year break early next week.

In economic news, Chinese industrial profits fell for the fourth month in a row, down 7.3% in November on an annualised basis.

However, the pace of the fall slowed from October's 10% and the huge 27% slump in September.

In equity news, shares in Delivery Hero were down sharply after Taiwan's competition regulator rejected the sale of its Foodpanda business on the island to Uber Technologies for $950m.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com