European Shares Seen Up As France Faces Hung Parliament

(RTTNews) - European stocks are seen opening a tad higher on Monday as investors weigh hopes of U.S. policy easing against French political uncertainty.

A leftist coalition in France has emerged as the surprising victor after the second and decisive round of voting in legislative elections, delivering a blow to the far-right that was set to win the elections.

The country is now facing the prospect of a hung parliament after none of these groups secured a majority.

Meanwhile, investors grew more confident about a September U.S. rate cut following last week's softer-than-expected jobs data.

The U.S. Labour Department is due to release its reports on consumer and producer prices for June this week.

Upcoming Congressional testimony by Fed Chair Jerome Powell may also provide greater clarity on Fed's monetary policy path.

The euro area economic calendar remains light, with foreign trade data from Germany and investor confidence figures from the euro area awaited later in the day.

Asian markets were broadly lower, with Chinese stocks falling for a fifth day ahead of China's inflation figures due on Wednesday.

The euro slipped against the dollar and gold dropped from a one-month high while oil held near two-month highs.

U.S. stocks rose Friday while Treasury yields retreated after the release of key labor market data.

While employment jumped by more than expected in June, the report showed downward revisions to job growth in April and May as well as another unexpected uptick in the unemployment rate for the third straight month, fueling speculation the Fed will lower interest rates in the near future.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.9 percent and the S&P 500 added half a percent to end higher for the fourth straight session and reach new record closing highs while the Dow edged up 0.2 percent.

European stocks closed broadly lower on Friday, giving up early gains. The pan European STOXX 600 slid 0.2 percent.

The German DAX inched up 0.1 percent, while France's CAC 40 eased 0.3 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 dipped half a percent.