The UK market is modestly lower in afternoon trading Monday, as investors keenly look to this week's discussions for a resolution to the debt crisis in the region. Reports that the European Central Bank is close to buying bonds sent Spanish bond yields lower and served to influence sentiment elsewhere in the region.
Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras is reportedly meeting Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean Claude Juncker, who also heads the Eurogroup, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande this week to seek a two-year extension for the country's fiscal adjustment program.
Meanwhile, the European Central Bank is considering setting limits on yields of Eurozone sovereign bonds, Germany's Spiegel magazine reported Sunday without mentioning its sources. The central bank would intervene and buy the bonds if their interest rates exceed a pre-determined threshold above German bonds, the magazine said.
In economic news, Eurozone construction output declined for the third consecutive month in June, Eurostat reported. In the construction sector, seasonally adjusted production dropped 0.5 percent from a month ago, when it fell 0.2 percent.
The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks is advancing 0.52 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, is rising 0.06 percent.
The FTSE 100 index is currently falling 0.24 percent.
Miners are mostly down. Eurasian Natural Resources is declining 3.4 percent and Kazakhmys is losing 2.4 percent. Rio Tinto is losing 1.7 percent. Xstrata is declining 3.6 percent after a broker downgrade.
Lonmin is losing 4 percent amid problems at its Marikana platinum mine near Johannesburg.
AstraZeneca is losing 0.6 percent. JPMorgan cut the stock to "Underweight" from "Neutral."
ARM Holdings is gaining 1.20 percent. Lender Barclays is up 1.5 percent and Royal Bank of Scotland is advancing 1 percent.
Insurer Amlin is up over 4 percent after reporting a profit for the first half of the year.
Elsewhere in Europe, the German DAX is advancing 0.36 percent. The French CAC 40 is down 0.06 percent and Switzerland's SMI is losing 0.11 percent.
Across Asia/Pacific, major markets ended mostly lower while in the U.S., futures point to a slightly higher open on Wall Street.
In the previous session, the Dow gained 0.2 percent, the Nasdaq rose 0.5 percent and the S&P 500 gained 0.2 percent, as better-than-expected economic news solidified market sentiment. A closely watched survey showed earlier in the day that consumer attitudes have improved in August, rising to their highest level in three months.
In the commodity space, crude for September delivery is adding $0.19 to $95.91 per barrel and December gold is losing $3.5 to $1615.9 a troy ounce.
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Market Analysis
June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.