STOXX 600 flat but eyes slim weekly gain
Tech sector drags after SAP39;s bleak forecast
Sweden39;s SSAB misses profit forecasts
Contract drugmaker Lonza cuts fullyear outlook

July 21 Reuters European shares were flat on Friday, as a slump in technology stocks following software maker SAP39;s downbeat forecast and declines in the healthcare sector were offset by gains in energy companies that tracked oil prices higher.

The panEuropean STOXX 600 index held steady at 463.72 points by 0831 GMT after closing at a onemonth high on Thursday.

The index was set for slim weekly rise of 0.6, largely driven by a rally in British shares following evidence of slowing domestic inflation. But concerns about China39;s weak economic recovery and weakness in the technology sector amid the earnings season capped gains.

SAP fell 4.8 after the business software maker trimmed its fullyear outlook for key cloud sales, dragging Germany39;s DAX index down 0.5.

Europe39;s technology sector, already the biggest decliner among major sectors this week, fell 1.0.

The technology hardware sector has been on our least preferred list for most of this year, but we do favour software, so it39;s a bit of a balance, said Sutanya Chedda, European equity strategist at UBS.

Artificial intelligence could be a positive for software but weak sentiment and earnings could hurt the hardware sector, Chedda added.

Healthcare shares were also a big drag, with Lonza down 9.0 after the Swiss contract drug…