European Shares Likely To Open On Soft Note

(RTTNews) - European stocks are seen opening broadly lower on Monday as investors react to Trump-Elon Musk feud over the president's tax-and-spending plan and await the high-level U.S.-China trade talks.

After Elon Musk described the "One big beautiful bill" as a "disgusting abomination," U.S. President Donald Trump expressed "disappointment" in Musk and suggested their once great relationship could be over.

The tech billionaire wrote on X: "It's outrageous how much character assassination has been directed at me, especially by me!"

Elsewhere, trade negotiators from the United States and China are expected to reconvene in London today against the backdrop of increased friction that has built up over China's tight grip on the supply of critical minerals for the auto, tech, and defense sectors.

In economic releases, reports on U.S. consumer and producer price inflation and consumer sentiment are likely to be in focus this week after a stronger-than-expected jobs report cooled expectations of interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve.

On the geopolitical front, U.S. officials said that Russia's threatened retaliation against Ukraine over its drone attack last weekend has not happened yet in earnest and is likely to be a significant, multi-pronged strike.

Asian markets traded mixed as new data showed China's consumer prices fell for a fourth consecutive month in May and producer prices clocked the steepest decline since July 2023, deepening deflation worries.

Separate set of data revealed that China's exports grew slower than expected in May, while imports declined from the last year due to weak domestic demand.

South Korea's Kospi surged 1.4 percent amid hopes on policy reforms after recent presidential election ushered in a new leadership.

Japan's Nikkei average rose about 1 percent as data showed the economy contracted less than initially feared in the first quarter.

The dollar held steady against its major rivals in Asian trade while gold was little changed after losing nearly 2 percent over the previous two sessions. Oil prices also held steady after rallying more than 4 percent last week.

U.S. stocks surged on Friday as a better-than-expected monthly jobs report following some recent downbeat data helped ease economic concerns and Tesla recovered part of the losses from a significant drop in the previous session.

Data showed non-farm payroll employment shot up by 139,000 jobs in May after a downwardly revised 147,000 jobs in April. The unemployment rate came in unchanged at 4.2 percent.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rallied 1.2 percent and the S&P 500 gained 1 percent to reach their best closing levels in over three months while the narrower Dow climbed 1.1 percent.

European stocks ended mostly higher on Friday as revised data showed the eurozone economy expanded at a much stronger rate than initially expected in the first quarter.

The pan European STOXX 600 rose 0.3 percent. The German DAX finished marginally lower, while France's CAC 40 rose 0.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 added 0.3 percent.