LONDON (ShareCast) - (ShareCast News) - It was all about politics at the start of the week as investors bided their time ahead of Wednesday's Dutch elections and the possbility that Brexit might be triggered that same day.
Against that backdrop, as of 0931 GMT the benchmark Stoxx 600 was higher by 0.07% ot 0.25 points to 373.48, Germany's Dax was almost unchanged, gaining 3.94 points or 0.03% to 11,967.12 while France's Cac-40 was off by 0.07% at 4,989.96.

"In focus today, and indeed this week, will be the build-up to the UK Prime Minister's potential triggering of Article 50 (tomorrow?), a tight Dutch election (another populist backlash? Nexit?) and what most expect to be another Fed rate hike on Wednesday evening. This means close watching of the trio of GBP, EUR and USD until Thursday," said Mike Van Dulken, Head of Research at Accendo Markets.

Speaking to the BBC, David Davis, the Secretary of State for Exiting the EU, confirmed the Prime Minister would trigger Article 50 by the end of March.

However, he refused be drawn on the exact timing.

On the economic side of things, Belgian central bank governor Frank Smets told the Wall Street Journal that on 9 March the European Central Bank had not flagged any upcoming changes to its policy mix.

Italian industrial production shrank by 2.3% month-on-month in January, a far worse outcome than the 0.8% drop economists had penciled in.

Officials in Rome were working on plans to transfer up to €60.0bn-worth of assets, including stakes in Eni, Enel and Finmeccanica into a vehicle which it would then list on the Milan Bourse, according to Milano Finanza.

That would allow the Italian government to raise funding to cut its debts.

Airbus sold eight A320s to South Korea's KAIR airlines.

BNP Paribas and 15 other institutions may face a tribunal in July due to allegations that they colluded to rig the exchange rate for the South African rand.

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