A shopping street in the Steglitz district of Berlin, Germany.
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LONDON – European stocks ended September on a gloomy note but started to gain ground in October.
Pan-European Stoke 600 Opening trading rose 0.2%, with mixed performance across industries and major exchanges. Technology stocks and travel and leisure stocks led the gains, both rising 0.44%, while household products stocks fell 0.48%.
European stocks closed lower on Monday, with almost all sectors and major equities in negative territory, as October got off to an optimistic start.
Investors’ focus on Tuesday will be on preliminary euro zone inflation data for September. Preliminary coordinated German inflation data released on Monday showed the country’s consumer price index fell to 1.8% in September from 2% in August. According to a Reuters poll of economists, the figure was expected to be 1.9%.
The data could increase the likelihood of another rate cut by the European Central Bank. Last week, preliminary data showed that unified inflation rates in both France and Spain fell below the European Central Bank’s September 2% target.
U.S. stock index futures were little changed late Monday night after the S&P 500 closed at a record high in late September.
Investors also reacted to comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who said on Monday that the Fed “is not taking any preset path” when it comes to the next step in interest rate policy. He said that if the economy performs as expected, he expects to cut interest rates twice more this year, which is a quarter of a percentage point each time.
Asia-Pacific markets were mixed overnight; some Asian markets were closed for public holidays on Tuesday, namely South Korea, Hong Kong and China. Mainland China will be closed for the rest of the week due to the Golden Week holiday.
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