The French market is in negative territory on Monday after comments made by China's Premier Wen Jiabao over the weekend evoked global reaction. Carmakers were apprehensive on China growth fears. The major Asian markets ended mostly higher as investors averred that Jiabao's remarks might be followed by stimulus measures.
Jiabao warned that the country's economic recovery is yet to gain momentum and the economic strains may continue for some more time, the official Xinhua news agency reported Sunday. Economic recovery is not yet stable and economic hardships may continue for a period of time, he said during an inspection tour in southwest Sichuan province over the weekend.
The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks is falling 0.25 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, is gaining 0.07 percent.
The CAC 40 index is currently losing 0.10 percent.
Alcatel Lucent is declining around 3 percent. LVMH is losing 1.4 percent.
BNP Paribas and Credit Agricole are moderately lower while Societe Generale is flat.
Peugeot is losing 0.2 percent while Renault is adding 1.5 percent.
Michelin is climbing 1.9 percent.
Carrefour is up 0.3 percent. Berenberg raised the stock to "Buy" from "Sell."
Elsewhere in Europe, the German DAX is flat. The UK's FTSE 100 is rising 0.02 percent and Switzerland's SMI is gaining 0.22 percent.
In economic news, inflation in Eurozone was 2.4 percent in June, unchanged from the previous month, the latest report from Eurostat showed. The figure matched the preliminary estimate.
Meanwhile, Eurozone's trade surplus rose more than expected by economists in May. The trade balance was in a surplus of 6.9 billion euros in May, higher than 3.7 billion euros in April. Economists expected the surplus to rise to 4 billion euros.
Across Asia/Pacific, major markets ended mostly higher. Australia's All Ordinaries gained 0.60 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.15 percent. However, China's Shanghai Composite Index bucked the uptrend and retreated 1.7 percent after Jiabao's comments.
In the U.S., futures point to a lower open on Wall Street. In the previous session, the major averages saw continued strength going into the close, ending the day firmly in positive territory. The Dow jumped 1.6 percent, the Nasdaq surged up 1.5 percent and the S&P 500 soared 1.7 percent.
In the commodity space, crude for August delivery is falling $0.33 to $86.77 per barrel and August gold is losing $7.3 to $1584.7 a troy ounce.
by RTT Staff Writer
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