European Shares Poised For Mixed Open

(RTTNews) - European stocks may open on a mixed note on Monday amid easing U.S. rate concerns and reports of heavy bombardment going on throughout the night across Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vetoed calls for a ceasefire yet again on Sunday as the war with Hamas neared the one-month mark.

As their ground offensive gathers pace, Israeli forces have claimed that they have cut the Gaza Strip into two.

Asian stocks traded mostly higher ahead of Chinese inflation and trade data due this week.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Sunday pledged to continue deepening reforms, expand access to markets and boost imports, which have fallen this year.

South Korea's Kospi average surged more than 4 percent after a ban on short selling.

Japan's Nikkei average was up over 2 percent after BOJ Governor Ueda said he saw progress in achieving the central bank's 2 percent inflation target but not enough to end ultra-loose monetary policy.

The dollar held steady while gold edged lower on improved risk appetite in financial markets.

Oil prices rose as top exporters Saudi Arabia and Russia said they would continue with oil supply curbs of more than 1 million barrels a day through year-end.

The U.S. economic calendar is relatively quiet this week, with reports on initial jobless claims, the U.S. trade deficit and consumer sentiment along with remarks by Fed Chair Jerome Powell awaited.

U.S. stocks rose on Friday while the dollar and bond yields dipped after data showed U.S. jobs growth slowed in October and the unemployment rate ticked up slightly, underscoring views that the Fed is done hiking interest rates.

Data showed employment climbed by 150,000 jobs in October after an addition of a downwardly revised 297,000 jobs in September. The unemployment rate crept up to 3.9 percent from 3.8 percent in September.

Separate data showed a bigger than expected slowdown in the pace of growth in U.S. service sector activity in the month.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite surged 1.4 percent, the S&P 500 gained 0.9 percent and the Dow added 0.7 percent.

European stocks fluctuated before finishing mostly higher on Friday, continuing the week's rally on dovish Fed bets.

The pan European STOXX 600 rose 0.2 percent to extend gains for the fifth consecutive session.

The German DAX edged up 0.3 percent, while France's CAC 40 slipped 0.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 dropped 0.4 percent.