Investing.com – European stock markets fell on Monday, starting the new week on a downbeat note as investors awaited a deluge of corporate earnings as well as policy meetings from both the European Central Bank and the Federal Reserve.
At 03:05 EST (08:05 GMT), Germany’s stock index was down 1%, France was down 0.2%, and the UK index was down 0.4%.
The German IFO is scheduled to be released ahead of the European Central Bank meeting
Attention on Monday will be on the release of the report later in the session, as investors try to gauge the health of the euro zone’s largest economy ahead of the European Central Bank’s final policy-setting meeting.
The European Central Bank concludes its latest meeting on Thursday, with officials having the opportunity to digest the latest growth data from major European countries, released ahead of the meeting.
Economists widely expect the bank to cut interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point at its next policy meeting, after it has already cut borrowing costs four times to address weak growth and cool inflation in the single currency area.
The bank also meets this week, with the US central bank expected to keep interest rates unchanged at the conclusion of its two-day meeting on Wednesday.
Ryanair Impressive profits
European quarterly earnings season is in full force this week, with results due from companies like Shell (LON:), LVMH (EPA:), Deutsche Bank (ETR:), Roche (SIX:) and ASML (AS:) during the week.
As far as Monday is concerned, Ryanair (IR:) stock rose 2.5% after the low-cost airline reported after-tax profits for the three months to the end of December ahead of expectations, even as it cut its forecast for 2019 passenger numbers next year.
Julius Baer SIX Bank (SIX:) Chairman Romeo Lacher is set to step down, as the Swiss bank continues a management restructuring that began a year ago after it suffered major losses from exposure to collapsed real estate group Cigna.
Swiss Test and Inspection Group SGS (SIX:) said it has ended talks on a potential $30 billion merger with French rival Bureau Veritas (EPA:).
In addition, the technology sector, especially Dutch computer chip equipment maker ASML (AS:), will be in the spotlight as investors weigh the implications of Chinese startup DeepSeek launching a ChatGPT competitor – one that has gained popularity as it claims to match offerings from rivals such as OpenAI for a fraction of its cost.
Fewer raw heads
Oil prices fell on Monday, with traders worried after President Trump last week called on the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to lower crude oil prices.
By 03:05 EST, US crude futures (WTI) were down 0.6% at $74.19 per barrel, while the contract was down 0.6% at $77.08 per barrel.
The crude oil market has suffered heavy losses since last week after Trump declared a national emergency and called for a sharp increase in US energy production, while also calling on OPEC to reduce crude oil prices.
Oil markets were also hit by weak PMI data from China, the largest importer, which showed that domestic business activity remains under pressure.
