European Shares Seen Tad Higher On China Reopening Hopes

(RTTNews) - European stocks may open on a steady note Monday as more Chinese cities relaxed some anti-COVID measures and testing mandates over the weekend, helping improve investors' appetite for riskier assets.

While China's yuan firmed past the closely watched 7-per-dollar level, the U.S. dollar extended its declines into a fifth straight session to hit an over five-month low on hopes for a less hawkish Fed.

The final Fed meeting of 2022 will happen on December 13-14, with the central bank expected to tone down its rate hike to 50 basis points.

The European Central Bank meets the day after, with board member François Villeroy de Galhau saying on Sunday that he is in favor of a 50-basis point hike to 2 percent.

Meanwhile, central banks in Australia, Canada and India are all expected to raise their rates at meetings this week.

Gold hit a four-month high, while oil prices jumped more than 1 percent after OPEC+ nations reaffirmed their output targets.

An EU embargo on seaborne Russian oil will likely take effect today after the Group of Seven clinched a last-minute deal to cap the price of Russian crude at $60 per barrel.

Asian markets traded mostly higher, with Chinese and Kong stocks leading regional gains.

The services sector in China contracted at a faster pace in November, the latest survey from Caixin showing today with a PMI score of 46.7, down from 48.4 in October.

U.S. stocks ended narrowly mixed on Friday as robust jobs data added to uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates.

Non-farm payroll employment beat expectations, adding 263,000 jobs in November led by the service sector.

While the jobless rate held steady at 3.7 percent, the retail trade and transportation and warehousing categories both lost jobs last month, highlighting weak spots in the economy.

The Dow inched up 0.1 percent, while the S&P 500 slipped 0.1 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite eased 0.2 percent.

European markets ended Friday's session mostly lower after having hit a six-month high in the previous session.

The pan-European STOXX 600 eased 0.2 percent. The German DAX rose 0.3 percent, France's CAC 40 index slid 0.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 finished marginally lower.