European Shares Likely To Open Lower In Cautious Trade

European stocks are seen opening a tad lower on Monday as commodities continued to slump on the back of a rising U.S. dollar and weak Chinese trade data released over the weekend.

Asian markets traded mixed as China and Australia tightened anti-virus controls and data showed China’s export growth unexpectedly slowed in July following outbreaks of COVID-19 cases.

China’s factory gate inflation in July rose at a faster clip from the previous month, adding to concerns the economy‘s recovery will face fresh pressure in the second half of the year.

The dollar held near four-month highs and Treasury yields extended their gains as Friday’s upbeat jobs data coupled with the U.S. Senate’s vote to advance a $1 trillion infrastructure package put Fed tapering before year-end firmly back on the table.

The outlook for U.S. monetary policy might be affected by the latest U.S. inflation data and six speeches from Federal Reserve officials scheduled for this week.

Oil prices fell nearly 2 percent in Asian trade after suffering their largest weekly drop in four months on concerns about potential global oil demand erosion.

Gold dropped more than 1 percent to hover near a four-month low and base metal prices declined while Bitcoin traded at $43,000 after hitting the highest since May over the weekend.

Foreign trade data from Germany is due later in the session, headlining a light day for the European economic news.

U.S. stocks ended mixed on Friday as better-than-expected jobs data added to economic optimism but also raised concerns about the outlook for monetary policy.

Non-farm payroll employment spiked by 943,000 jobs in July after surging by an upwardly revised 938,000 jobs in June. Economists had expected employment to jump by 870,000 jobs.

The Dow rose 0.4 percent and the S&P 500 edged up 0.2 percent to reach new record closing highs while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index slipped 0.4 percent.

European stocks ended Friday’s session slightly higher, with investors focusing on earnings, U.S. jobs data and the global spread of the Delta COVID-19 variant.

The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 ended flat with a positive bias. The German DAX edged up 0.1 percent and France’s CAC 40 index gained half a percent while the U.K.’s FTSE 100 ended on a flat note.