Concerns over monetary policy tightening in China and fiscal problems of debt-ridden Greece weighed down on European stocks, which opened marginally lower on Monday.
At 9.20 a.m. (GMT), Britain’s FTSE 100 was down 0.1%, while France’s CAC and Germany’s DAX opened 0.2% and 0.1% lower, respectively.
Asian markets were soft with the Chinese market leading the decline on concerns monetary policy in the country would be tightened to cool down its economy and counter inflation. The Japanese market, however, held onto gains, buoyed by expectation its government may further stimulate the economy by boosting lending.
Trade was cautious ahead of key rate-setting meetings at central banks in the U.S. and Japan and a meeting of Euro zone finance ministers to discuss the Greece crisis.
Mining stocks Anglo American, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto declined between 0.9% and 1.2%. Financial stocks were under pressure, too: Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group were down between 0.4% and 1.4%.
Shares in small-cap fashion player French Connection surged 7% after it sold its loss-making Nicole Farhi brand and closed down most of its U.S. stores as part of a restructuring exercise.
Nazim Khan is an assistant site editor for Morningstar.com based in Mumbai, India.
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