In Europe on Monday, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 lost 0.3 percent to 1,160.62. The electronics sector had a bad day as Infineon was down 1 percent to €8.33 on news that one of its executives had been forced to resign amid accusations of corruption.

STMicroelectronics fell 1.6 percent to *14.53. Dutch firm Philips declined by 2.6 percent to €22.07 on a report that its second quarter profits were down by over one-half.

The automobile sector saw gains, however, as Fiat gained 1.1 percent to €6.50, while Porsche advanced by 2.4 percent to €673.50 as it announced its best first-half results ever. The Greek Athens General Index had a much better day, rising 1.7 percent to 3,171.55.

Gaming group Opap was up 4.8 percent to €22.50 after the government announced a sale of 52.45 million shares, 16.44 percent of the company, at €24.14 each.

Meanwhile, telecommunications company OTE gained 2.5 percent to €16.26 on news that the company, which is mostly owned by the Greek government, is getting ready to sell 13 percent of its shares, 9 percent of which will be publicly offered, with the remaining 4 percent being placed with OTE’s pension fund.