07:47 AM EDT, 09/18/2023 (MT Newswires) -- European bourses tracked moderately lower midday Monday, as an Asian-exchange tech slump extended to the continent, and traders awaited central bank decisions this week from the Bank of England and the Swiss National Bank.

Bank and property issues also led decliners.

Investors also eyed Wall Street futures signaling green, but lower closes overnight on Asian exchanges.

Member of the European Central Bank (ECB) Governing Council and National Bank of Slovakia (NBS) Governor Peter Kazimir blogged he hopes the ECB's most-recent raise interest-rate hike was the last one, but wrote "common sense dictates, 'Never say never.'"

The pan-continental Stoxx Europe 600 Index was down 0.8% mid-session.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Technology Index was off 1.5%, and the Stoxx 600 Banks Index lost 1%.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Oil and Gas Index was off 0.2%, and the Stoxx 600 Europe Food and Beverage Index declined 0.1%.

The REITE, a European REIT index, fell 1.1%, and the Stoxx Europe 600 Insurance Index declined 0.3%.

On the national market indexes, Germany's DAX was down 0.7%, and the FTSE 100 in London was down 0.4%. The CAC 40 in Paris was off 1.1%, and Spain's IBEX 35 lost 0.4%.

Yields on benchmark 10-year German bonds were higher, near 2.69%.

Front-month North Sea Brent crude-oil futures were up 0.5% to $94.39 per barrel.

The Euro Stoxx 50 volatility index was up 11% to 16.38, but still indicating below-average volatility for European stock markets in the next 30 days, a positive signal. A reading above 20 indicates choppier markets ahead, while below 20 suggests calmer exchanges.

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