European stocks are seen opening higher on Monday, thanks to the strong rally on Wall Street Friday as investors took the mixed jobs report in their stride. The Asian markets are trading mostly higher, with Japanese and Chinese shares rallying sharply as the yen weakened and China's central bank reiterated its stance of continuing with a stable monetary policy this year to ensure appropriate liquidity.
Meanwhile, business activity across emerging markets expanded at the slowest pace in four months in January, reflecting slower increase in service sector activity across global emerging markets, a survey by HSBC Bank and Markit Economics based on data from purchasing managers at about 8,000 firms in 17 countries revealed. However, the monthly index remained above the 50 threshold which marks the difference between expansion and contraction.
After the seemingly disappointing U.S. jobs report, investors have now shifted their attention to Janet Yellen's inaugural testimony to U.S. lawmakers this week for hints on her views on monetary policy and the economic outlook. She is scheduled to deliver her semi-annual testimony on monetary policy before the House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday and the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday.
The U.S. economic calendar for this week is relatively light, with investors waiting for cues from reports on retail sales, industrial production and consumer sentiment for further signs of economic revival.
Closer home, Sentix will publish its monthly investor's confidence index for the euro zone later in the day, with the indicator seen falling to 10.3 in February from 11.9, which was its highest reading since April 2011. French industrial output figures are also slated for release, with economists expecting production to grow 0.2 percent in December from the previous month after rising 1.3 percent in November.
In corporate news, German telecom giant Deutsche Telekom AG has agreed to fully acquire its Czech wireless unit from investors, including Mid Europa Partners LLP, for about 830 million euros, the Bloomberg reported, quoting two people familiar with the matter.
Separately, the Bloomberg reported that Swiss food giant Nestle SA is exploring ways to reduce its $30 billion stake in French cosmetics maker L'Oreal SA.
Barclays Plc. said it had launched an investigation into the possible theft and sale of personal data concerning at least 2,000 customers.
Litigation law firm Brodsky & Smith, LLC said it is investigating potential claims against the board of directors of Accelrys, Inc. related to the acquisition by Dassault Systems SA., a French developer of 3D design software.
The European markets closed higher on Friday as investors digested the latest batch of earnings reports and Germany's constitutional court referred a complaint against the European Central Bank's flagship bond-buying program to the European Court of Justice, removing the prospects of curbing the stimulus effort. The German DAX rose half a percent, France's CAC 40 added a percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 edged up 0.2 percent.
U.S. stocks rallied on Friday despite the U.S. employment report that showed the economy added just 113,000 new jobs in January, far less than economists had forecast, even though the unemployment report declined to a fresh five-year low. The Dow climbed 1.1 percent, the tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped 1.7 percent and the S&P 500 advanced 1.3 percent.
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Market Analysis
May 08, 2026 15:50 ET Manufacturing and services sector survey results and labor market data from main economies were the highlight on the economics news front this week. Factory orders and jobs report dominated the news flow in the U.S. Similarly, industrial production data from German garnered attention in Europe. In Asia, purchasing managers’ survey results from China and the central bank decision from Australia were in focus.