European Shares May See Cautious Gains At Open

(RTTNews) - European stocks are likely to open higher on Monday as investors keep an eye on bond yields and look forward to U.S. inflation data due later this week for fresh guidance on the rate outlook.

Asian markets traded mixed after Chinese imports data missed estimates. China's exports in July surged 18 percent compared with a year earlier, while imports rose just 2.3 per cent, reflecting weak global demand, customs data showed.

The dollar held gains big gains on the back of a blockbuster U.S. jobs report and the U.S.-China tensions over Taiwan, while oil prices rose modestly after plunging by nearly 10 percent last week on recession worries.

After defending its shelving of military talks with the United States in protest against Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taipei last week, China said today it is continuing drills in the seas and skies around Taiwan. Taiwan accused the Chinese military of simulating an attack on its main island.

Eurozone Sentix investor confidence survey results are due later in the session. The sentiment index is seen at -24.7 in August versus -26.4 in July.

U.S. stocks ended a volatile session mixed on Friday as upbeat jobs data calmed concerns about a recession but raised the chances of a 75-bps rate hike at the September policy meeting.

Data showed that non-farm payroll employment spiked by 528,000 jobs in July after surging by an upwardly revised 398,000 jobs in June. The jobless rate unexpectedly slipped to 3.5 percent from 3.6 percent in June.

The Dow edged up 0.2 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite shed half a percent and the S&P 500 slid 0.2 percent.

European stocks also closed lower on Friday as investors reacted to a slew of earnings updates, U.S.-China tensions and the red-hot U.S. jobs report.

The pan European Stoxx 600 lost 0.8 percent. The German DAX gave up 0.7 percent, France's CAC 40 index declined 0.6 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 slipped 0.1 percent.