European stocks largely lower, Eurozone PMIs in focus By Investing.com

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 in Germany traded 0.3% lower, in France traded down 0.2%, while the 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 data for the region, which are likely to show the Eurozone heading into a recession as the year comes to an end.

and 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 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 at its final policy meeting of the year on Dec. 15 with inflation running well above its 2% target.

President 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 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:) 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:) 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, futures traded 1.3% higher at $81.03 a barrel, while the contract rose 1.3% to $86.71. 

Additionally, rose 0.1% to $1,810.90/oz, while traded 0.1% higher at 1.0552.