European stocks may open little changed on Monday, tracking mixed Asian cues as continued uncertainty over U.S. fiscal cliff talks offset optimism about improving Chinese growth outlook.
An index measuring China's manufacturing sector saw a final reading of 50.5 in November, a survey from HSBC revealed today, beating last month's advanced estimate of 50.4. Also, an official PMI for China's non-manufacturing came in at 55.6 in November, up from 55.5 in October.
Closer home, U.K. manufacturers reported a further weakening in output and orders over the past quarter and forecast tough trading conditions to linger into 2013, a survey from EEF manufacturers' organization showed. The output balance dropped to zero from 4 percent while the orders balance fell to 3 percent over the past three months. Separately, an index measuring house prices in the United Kingdom was down 0.1 percent in November from the previous month, property tracking website Hometrack said.
Meanwhile, Moody's Investors Service lowered the rating of Eurozone's rescue fund, European Stability Mechanism by one notch from triple A to AA1 and maintained negative outlook, saying there is a high correlation in credit risk among the supporters of ESM and EFSF. The negative outlook on the ESM's rating reflects the negative outlooks on the ESM member states with significant capital contribution keys and high ratings.
The euro is trading firm at its highest level in almost six weeks against the dollar as Eurozone finance ministers meet in Brussels today to discuss details of the buyback of Greek bonds held by investors at a discounted rate. The buyback, which will be financed with 10 billion euros from the rescue package, has to be concluded by December 13 for Greece to secure 30 billion euros of agreed bailout money.
In an interview with Bild am Sonntag newspaper, German Chancellor Angela Merkel signaled that Germany may ultimately write-off Greek debt, but not before 2015.
In corporate news, Delta Air Lines Inc. is in talks with Singapore Airlines to buy the Asian carrier's 49 percent stake in British carrier Virgin Atlantic Airways, media reports suggest.
Swiss bakery business Aryzta AG reported higher Group revenue of 1.10 billion euros for the first quarter and said FY 2013 will be another year of substantial transformation and reorganization for the company.
European stocks ended a choppy session mostly lower on Friday, as persistent concerns over the U.S. fiscal cliff and some weak European economic data outweighed positive sentiment over the German parliament's approval of the latest installment of aid for debt-laden Greece.
The Euro Stoxx 50 index of Eurozone bluechip stocks and the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, slipped around 0.3 percent each. Key benchmark indexes in the U.K. and Switzerland fell about 0.1 percent each and France's CAC 40 shed 0.3 percent, while the German DAX edged up marginally.
U.S. stocks ended narrowly mixed showing little change on Friday, with continued uncertainty about the looming fiscal cliff and mixed data on personal spending and growth in Chicago-area business activity weighing on sentiment.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
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.