BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks may open a tad higher
on Monday, after having suffered heavy losses in the previous session amid
heightened political uncertainty in Europe.

Asian markets traded mostly lower as a slew of top-tier economic data from China
painted a sluggish picture of the economy.

China's retail sales grew at a faster-than-expected pace in May, while
industrial output lagged expectations, fixed asset investment missed estimates
and new home prices declined at the fastest pace in nearly 10 years, adding
pressure on Beijing to shore up growth.

Investors also fretted about a wider Middle East war after the Israeli military
warned that intensified cross-border fire from Lebanon's Hezbollah terror group
into Israel could trigger serious escalation.

Japan's Nikkei index fell more than 2 percent as investors waited to hear
details of the Bank of Japan's next tightening steps.

The dollar was firm in Asian trading, while oil and gold were seeing modest
losses.

The European economic calendar remains light, with final inflation data from
Italy and economic forecast from Switzerland awaited later in the day.

In the U.S., reports on retail sales, industrial production, housing starts and
existing home sales are awaited this week.

The holiday-shortened week will also see earnings from prominent companies such
as IT and consulting services firm Accenture and supermarket chain Kroger.

Central bank meetings in Australia, Norway and the U.K. will be in focus this
week, with all central banks expected to hold rates steady.

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) might announce another rate cut, given the recent
strength of the Swiss franc.

U.S. stocks ended narrowly mixed on Friday but posted strong weekly gains on
growing hopes for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates in September.

In economic releases, U.S. import prices fell for the first time in five months
in May and year-ahead inflation expectations were unchanged at 3.3 percent in
June while consumer sentiment dropped to a seven-month low in June, separate
reports showed.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite inched up 0.1 percent to reach a record closing
high while the S&P 500 finished marginally lower and the Dow eased 0.2 percent.

European stocks tumbled on Friday, with political tensions in Europe and
concerns over potential retaliation from China on tariffs weighing on sentiment.

The pan European STOXX 600 gave up 1 percent. The German DAX lost 1.4 percent,
France's CAC 40 plunged 2.7 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 dipped 0.2 percent.



Copyright(c) 2024 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved

Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX