Europe midday: Shares pare losses but Stellantis slump weighs

(Sharecast News) - European shares rallied at midday with Stellantis stock in focus after a 28% slump in response to the auto maker's �22bn write-down as it admitted overestimating the shift into electric vehicles.

The pan-regional Stoxx 600 was up 0.40% to 614.12, with all major continental bourses rebounding. Shares were down in the morning as worries about the amount spent on artificial intelligence capacity by major tech players continued to dog sentiment.

"With earnings season in full swing, US stock futures slipped lower after poor market reactions to some of the big tech names' results," said Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Aarin Chiekrie.

"A recurring theme is emerging: both Alphabet an Amazon delivered strong underlying business performance ... but that hasn't been enough to distract markets from their ballooning capital investment plans, which sit at mammoth levels of $175-185bn and $200bn respectively for 2026, as they fight to ramp up capacity and remain near the front of the AI race."

"As a result, Alphabet shares are down another 2.7% in pre-market trading today, while Amazon shares dropped 11.2% following its results last night. Software stocks continue to slide, with Bloomberg estimating the sector has lost 20% in the past week."

In economic news, German exports rose more than expected in December compared with the previous month, but industrial production fell, preliminary data from federal statistics office Destatis showed on Friday.

The 4% figure beat estimates of a 1% rise. Imports rose by 1.4% on a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis compared with November 2025.

Industrial production was down 1.9% in December 2025 from November due to weaker output in the automotive industry (-8.9%), machinery and equipment (-6.8%) and machine maintenance and assembly (-17.6%), Destatis said.

In other equity news, Kongsberg Gruppen surged as the Norwegian defence contractor reported a bigger than expected rise in operating profit for the fourth quarter. The company said its order backlog had increased by 11 per cent in the final three months of 2025.

German industrial and defence company Renk gained after reporting results on Thursday that showed strong revenue and operating profit growth as it also confirmed guidance with order intake at record levels.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com