2017.12.1121:35:00UTC+00European Markets Mixed as Techs Decline

The broad-based major European markets were mixed on Monday, as weakness in tech stocks offset strong financials.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index dropped 0.1 percent.

Eurozone blue-chips plunged 0.3 percent as the euro rose 0.3 percent, weighing on its mainly foreign-earning constituents. Britain's FTSE outperformed and climbed 0.7 percent due to a weaker pound.

A rotation out of the highly-valued tech sector, which has gained the most in Europe so far this year, saw investors shift to financials instead.

Chipmaker Dialog Semiconductor was among the biggest decliners, dropping 3.2 percent, along with software company Temenos and video games producer Ubisoft.

Mining stocks and banks bolstered the FTSE in London as Antofagasta and Bhp Billiton climbed 2.3 percent and 2.2 percent, while Rio Tinto, Glencore International, and Anglo American rose 2 percent, 1.7 percent, and 1.4 percent, respectively.

Relief after the previous week's deal on new global banking rules also helped banks lift European markets.

HSBC was the largest advancer, rising 2.2 percent, while among other heavyweight banks, UBS climbed 1.3 percent and Denmark's Danske Bank was up 2.1 percent.

Deutsche Bank declined 0.9 percent, despite its finance chief telling a German paper that it was able to cope with stricter capital rules agreed last week.

Top advancers on the STOXX were South African retailer Steinhoff, which increased 24.4 percent to break three sessions of sharp declines stemming from its discovery of accounting irregularities, and Altice .