European Shares Seen Opening Up As French Election Worries Ease

(RTTNews) - European stocks are seen opening on a positive note Monday as worries about French election eased.

The euro edged up against the dollar amid signs that France's far-right would not garner enough seats for an overall majority in legislative elections, easing concerns about further strains on the country's public finances.

President Emmanuel Macron has called for a "broad" alliance against the far right in the second round, which will see run-off votes between two or three candidates where there was no outright winner in the first round.

Meanwhile, after a key U.S. inflation reading matched expectations, investors now await remarks by Fed Chair Jerome Powell, minutes of Fed's June FOMC meeting, jobs data for June, job openings data for May and reports on manufacturing and service sector activity this week for more clarity on the Federal Reserve's stance.

Overall trading activity in the U.S. may be somewhat subdued, heading into Thursday's Independence Day holiday.

Asian markets were mostly higher after a private sector survey showed China's manufacturing activity grew at the fastest pace in more than three years in June.

The data contrasted with official PMI readings that showed China's factory activity contracted again and services activity slowed to a five-month low.

The Japanese yen lost ground after revised data showed Japan's economy shrank more than initially reported in the first quarter.

Gold drifted lower in Asian trading while oil prices edged up after mixed PMI data from China.

Flash inflation data from Germany and final manufacturing Purchasing Managers' survey data from the euro area are due later in the session, headlining a busy day for the European economic news.

U.S. stocks gave up early gains to end lower on Friday as PCE (Personal Consumption Expenditures) price index came in unchanged in May after ticking up 0.3 percent in April.

The annual rate of core inflation growth slowed to 2.6 percent, marking its lowest reading since March 2021 and reinforcing investor expectations for at least one interest rate cut later this year.

The Dow slipped 0.1 percent, the S&P 500 shed 0.4 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gave up 0.7 percent as Treasury yields rose after the release of the data.

European stocks ended mostly lower on Friday due to French election uncertainty and after the release of U.K. GDP figures and inflation data from France, Spain and Italy.

The pan European STOXX 600 eased 0.2 percent. The German DAX rose 0.1 percent while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 dropped 0.2 percent and France's CAC 40 dipped 0.7 percent.