European Shares Seen Lower With China Inflation Data In Focus

(RTTNews) - European stocks are seen opening on a sluggish note Monday, with U.S. inflation data and earnings news from financial giants Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo likely to be in the spotlight this week.

The European economic calendar remains light, with Eurozone Sentix investor confidence data awaited later in the day. The investor sentiment index is forecast to fall to -17.9 in July from -17.0 in June.

Asian markets were trading mixed amid concerns over slowing growth in the U.S. and China.

China's consumer inflation was flat in June and factory-gate prices fell further in the month, fueling concerns about deflation risks and spurring hopes of more policy stimulus in the world's second-largest economy.

Meanwhile, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said ten hours of bilateral meetings with top Chinese officials helped stabilize the rocky relationship.

The dollar was on the back foot in Asian trade and Treasury yields slipped from last week's highs after the release of weaker-than-expected U.S. jobs data.

Oil prices fell slightly, after having climbed about 3 percent last week to a nine-week high on supply concerns.

Gold inched lower ahead of key U.S. consumer and producer price inflation reports due this week.

U.S. stocks declined on Friday to end lower for the week, as a mixed jobs report showing slower job growth for June but persistently strong wage growth and a slight drop in the unemployment rate heightened fears that the Fed may resume rate hikes later this month.

The Dow shed 0.6 percent, the S&P 500 edged down 0.3 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slid 0.1 percent.

European stocks finished slightly higher on Friday after suffering heavy losses in the previous session.

The pan European STOXX 600 ended flat with a positive bias. The German DAX rose half a percent and France's CAC 40 gained 0.4 percent while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 eased 0.3 percent.