European Shares To See Cautious Start After Mixed China Data

(RTTNews) - European stocks are likely to open a tad lower on Monday as investors await more U.S. economic data and corporate earnings this week for directional cues.

U.S. reports on retail sales, industrial production, housing starts and existing home sales due this week will provide further clarity on whether the Federal Reserve can reduce inflation without causing a recession.

On the earnings front, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, IBM Corp., Netflix, Tesla, Johnson & Johnson and American Express are among the prominent companies due to report their quarterly results this week.

Asian markets were subdued after data showed that China's GDP growth slowed substantially through the second quarter. GDP grew just 0.8 percent in April-June from the previous quarter.

Industrial output in June beat estimates but retail sales missed forecasts and property sales suffered the largest monthly drop this year, offering a mixed picture of the economy.

Hopes for rate cuts were also dented after the People's Bank of China kept its medium-term lending rates steady.

Regional trading volumes were light due to a holiday in Japan and a trading halt in Hong Kong.

Gold was virtually unchanged, and the dollar steadied after Friday's upbeat U.S. data while oil prices fell about 1 percent after Libya resumed production over the weekend.

U.S. stocks finished mostly lower on Friday but posted solid weekly gains as the earnings season kicked off and new data showed consumers are feeling more confident about easing inflation.

The Dow edged up 0.3 percent following upbeat earnings results from JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo.

Citigroup shares fell after the bank's profit and sales dropped. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slid 0.2 percent and the S&P 500 eased 0.1 percent.

European stocks ended Friday's session on a mixed note after five consecutive sessions of gains. The pan European STOXX 600 ended down 0.1 percent.

The German DAX edged down 0.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 finished marginally lower while France's CAC 40 ended flat with a positive bias.