European stocks are seen opening slightly lower on Monday, as commodities retreated on a strong dollar amid speculation the Federal Reserve plans to reduce its $85-billion-a-month bond-buying program designed to stimulate the economy.
Investors will closely scrutinize U.S. data on retail sales, housing starts, industrial production, and producer and consumer price inflation due out this week for clues as to the next Fed move.
Asian stocks are trading mostly lower after Chinese data on industrial production and fixed asset investment missed estimates. Industrial output rose 9.3 percent in April from a year earlier, while fixed-asset investment, excluding rural household, in the first four months of the year increased 20.6 percent, the National Bureau of Statistics said. Retail sales grew 12.8 percent year-over-year in April, matching estimates.
A weaker yen lifted Japanese shares to a fresh five-year high, while the markets in Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Singapore and Taiwan are subdued.
The yen fell below the 102 level to the dollar after the Group of Seven industrialized nations indicated support to Japan's efforts to boost economic recovery at a meeting over the weekend. Japan's Finance Minister Taro Aso indicated after the meeting that the country had not been criticized for its recent actions and that the G7's understanding of Japan's policies has improved.
Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors of the G7 nations, meanwhile, agreed to push ahead with reforms in the banking sector in order to protect taxpayers from the impact of bank failures.
In domestic corporate news, German courier services major Deutsche Post DHL said it has contractually agreed with the largest automobile club in Germany and Europe, ADAC or Allgemeine Deutsche Automobilclub, to enter the newly opened long distance bus market with their first intercity connections expected to begin on November 1.
Telecommunications provider QSC AG reported a significant increase in profit for the first quarter on the back of strong growth in its ICT business as well as temporarily higher demand for IP-based voice products.
GlaxoSmithKline Plc and Theravance Inc. won the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of their once-daily drug Breo Ellipta to treat airflow obstruction in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Kuwait Airways plans to buy 25 aircraft from Airbus, a division of European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co., and lease 13 of the A320 and A330 models for six years.
Lloyds Banking Group Plc's Chairman Sir Winfried Bischoff is set to step down from his position later this year as the British banking major is readying itself for privatization, media reports suggest. The announcement is expected to be made ahead of the group's shareholder meeting on Thursday.
European stocks rose in thin trading on Friday, with the German DAX hitting another record high and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 closing above 6600 for the first time since October 2007, after companies like ArcelorMittal and BT Group Plc. reported better-than-expected results and data showed German exports recovered as expected in March, boosting hopes of economic revival by the end of the first quarter. The benchmark indexes in Germany, the U.K. and France rose between 0.2 percent and 0.6 percent.
U.S. stocks posted modest gains to close at fresh record highs on Friday amid optimism the U.S. economic recovery is gaining traction. Google led technology stocks higher, offsetting losses in the energy sector. The Dow edged up 0.2 percent, the tech-heavy Nasdaq advanced 0.8 percent and the S&P 500 gained 0.4 percent.
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