Europe midday: Stocks continue to power higher

Stocks are continuing to power ahead come midday on the back of strong survey data out of the euro area and despite a renewed move higher in the single currency.

According to IHS Markit, service sector activity in the Eurozone accelerated in December to its fastest clip in more than six-and-a-half years, leaving a composite gauge for both factory and services pointing at the highest annual trend since 2006.

"A stellar end to 2017 for the Eurozone rounded off the best year for over a decade, continuing to confound widely-held fears that rising political uncertainty would curb economic growth," said Chris Williamson, chief business economist at IHS Markit.

As of 1228 GMT, the benchmark Stoxx 600 was ahead by 0.67% or 2.64 points at 392.86, alongside a rise of 1.11% or 144.74 points to 13,122.25 for the German Dax and an advance of 2.09% or 458.67 points to 22,363.92 on the FTSE Mibtel.

Pacing gains on the latter was stock in Fiat Chrysler and Ubi Banca, with the former apparently boosted by the outlook for sales on the other side of the Pond thanks to recently approved tax cuts.

From a sector standpoint, Banks (1.44%) and Construction (1.73%) were among the best performers on the Stoxx 600.

Meanwhile, euro/dollar was again moving higher, adding 0.42% to 1.2066.

IHS Markit's euro area services sector Purchasing Managers' Index printed at 56.6 last month, up from a preliminary reading of 56.5 and a print of 56.2 for the month before.

Similarly, the composite PMI for December from the same survey compiler was marked up from an initial reading of 58.0 to 58.1.

Acting as a backdrop, Caixin's Chinese services PMI shot up from a reading of 51.6 in November to 53.0 for December.

Later in the day, at 1330 GMT the Department of Labor will release its latest initial weekly unemployment claims figures.

Potential M&A was again dominating the corporate headlines; according to Reuters, Nestle and the private equity owners of Stada were readying bids for Merck KGaA's consumer health arm.

Further north, in Germany Volkwagen was reportedly in negotiations to buy a stake in GAZ, a Russian light commercial vehicle manufacturer.