By Peter Nurse
Investing.com - European stock markets largely edged lower Monday ahead of the release of key activity data, with caution key even as more Chinese cities relaxed mobility restrictions.
At 03:50 ET (08:50 GMT), the DAX index in Germany traded 0.3% lower, CAC 40 in France traded down 0.2%, while the FTSE 100 in the U.K. gained 0.1%.
European equities have started the week in a subdued fashion, with investors focusing on the release of the final November PMI data for the region, which are likely to show the Eurozone heading into a recession as the year comes to an end.
Spanish and Italian services PMI data both came in ahead of expectations, but the data for the Eurozone as a whole is still expected to show a contraction in November.
Eurozone retail sales for October are also due for release, and are expected to fall 1.7% on the month with discretionary spending severely hit by soaring inflation.
Despite these signs of European economies in strife, the European Central Bank is still expected to hike interest rates at its final policy meeting of the year on Dec. 15 with inflation running well above its 2% target.
President Christine Lagarde is to make two appearances this week before the start of the ECB’s blackout period, and investors will be looking to see if she hints at a 50-basis point rate increase, after data last week showed that Eurozone inflation eased more than expected in November.
This caution means the European markets are unlikely to follow the positive trend seen in Asia after a number of Chinese cities joined the important economic hubs Shanghai and Beijing in relaxing some mobility and testing measures.
In the corporate sector, Credit Suisse (SIX:CSGN) stock rose 1.9% after the Wall Street Journal reported that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is considering an investment of around $500 million to back the embattled Swiss lender’s investment bank.
Vodafone (LON:VOD) stock rose 1.9% after the struggling U.K.-based telecoms company announced that Chief Executive Nick Read is to step down at the end of the year.
Crude oil prices firmed Monday on optimism of a broad relaxation of China’s COVID restrictions while OPEC+ maintained its output targets over the weekend.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, known as OPEC+, decided to stick to the October plan to cut output by 2 million barrels per day from November, waiting to see the impact of the EU import ban and Group of Seven $60-a-barrel price cap on seaborne Russian oil, which came into force Monday.
By 03:50 ET, U.S. crude futures traded 1.3% higher at $81.03 a barrel, while the Brent contract rose 1.3% to $86.71.
Additionally, gold futures rose 0.1% to $1,810.90/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.1% higher at 1.0552.