- Restored 'Apollo Belvedere' marble back on show in the Vatican
- Boeing to raise up to $25 bn as strike weighs on finances
- Oil prices fall on easing Middle East fears
- Boeing announces intention to raise up to $25 bn
- Ferguson to leave Man Utd ambassador role as club cuts costs
- Oil prices tumble on easing Middle East fears
- Oil prices hit by easing Middle East fears, most Asian markets rise
- Hopes pinned on peace across Taiwan Strait after drills
- Belgian pathologist and literary star gives 'voice to the dead'
- East Timor fights new battles 25 years after independence vote
- Oil prices drop on easing fears over Middle East, most markets rise
- Reoxygenating oceans: startups lead the way in Baltic Sea
- King Charles III heads to Australia and Commonwealth meeting
- Wall Street stocks hit fresh records as oil prices slide
- Strike-hit Boeing leaves experts puzzled by strategy
- NASA launches probe to study if life possible on icy Jupiter moon
- EVs seek to regain sales momentum at Paris Motor Show
- NASA probe Europa Clipper lifts off for Jupiter's icy moon
- 'Unsustainable' housing crisis bedevils Spain's socialist govt
- Stocks shrug off China disappointment but oil slides
- Stocks diverge, oil retreats as China disappoints markets
- Trio wins economics Nobel for work on wealth inequality
- Ex-Stasi officer jailed over 1974 Berlin border killing
- Shanghai stocks gain after stimulus briefing as markets rally
- Shanghai stocks gain after stimulus briefing as Asian markets rally
- Nearly 90, but opera legend Kabaivanska is still calling tune
- With inflation down, ECB eyes faster tempo of rate cuts
- Is life possible on a Jupiter moon? NASA goes to investigate
- Ex-Stasi officer faces verdict over 1974 Berlin border killing
- Role of government, poverty research tipped for economics Nobel
- In milestone, SpaceX 'catches' megarocket booster after test flight
- In a first, SpaceX 'catches' megarocket booster after test flight
- Bangladeshi Hindus shrug off attack worries to celebrate festival
- Ubisoft fears assassin's hit over falling sales
- Vietnam, China hold talks on calming South China Sea tensions
- SpaceX will try to 'catch' giant Starship rocket shortly before landing
- Japan's former empress Michiko discharged after surgery: reports
- Japan's former empress Michiko discharged after surgey: reports
- 'Little Gregory' murder haunts France 40 years on
- Tariffs, tax cuts, energy: What is in Trump's economic plan?
- Amazon wants to be everything to everyone
- Jewish school in Canada hit by gunfire for second time
- With medical report Harris seeks to play health card against Trump
- China-EU EV tariff talks in Brussels end with 'major differences': Beijing
- Buried Nazi past haunts Athens on liberation anniversary
- Harris to release medical report confirming fitness for presidency: campaign
- Nobel prize a timely reminder, Hiroshima locals say
- China offers $325 bn in fiscal stimulus for ailing economy
- Small Quebec company dominates one part of NHL hockey: jerseys
- Boeing to cut 10% of workforce as it sees big Q3 loss
RBGPF | 1.67% | 60.5 | $ | |
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BCC | 0.09% | 143.11 | $ |
Stock markets mixed before key rate calls
Stock markets diverged Monday as traders reacted to weak global data and political uncertainty in Spain, while awaiting key interest-rate decisions due this week.
Europe's main indices steadied but Madrid was down 0.7 percent in early afternoon deals, as Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and his right-wing rival try to head off a fresh vote after an inconclusive snap election resulted in a hung parliament.
Asia's top stock markets were a mixed bag amid concern over weakness in the Chinese economy.
China's top leaders said the world's second-biggest economy was facing "new difficulties and challenges" in a meeting of the 24-person Politburo on Monday.
In a bleak update for the eurozone, a key survey showed economic activity shrank at its fastest rate for eight months in July, as a contraction gathered pace on the back of cuts in manufacturing.
The painful PMI data comes as the European Central Bank is eyeing a further rate hike on Thursday in its quest to tame inflation.
The ECB "will raise rates this week as planned, but with economic weakness spreading, the outcome of the September meeting is becoming an increasingly close call", noted UniCredit economist Tullia Bucco.
"With headline inflation decelerating and the labour market starting to soften, a forward-looking analysis would point to no more tightening beyond this week."
Across the Atlantic, the Federal Reserve is widely expected to announce another increase in borrowing costs on Wednesday.
A string of positive US data in recent months has given the Fed some room to take its foot off the pedal and allow the economy to avert a feared recession.
Separate PMI data Monday showed the UK's private sector appearing to have slammed the brakes on growth.
"The UK economy has come close to stalling in July which, combined with gloomy forward-looking indicators, reignites recession worries," said Chris Williamson, chief business economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence.
"July's flash PMI survey data revealed a deepening manufacturing downturn accompanied by a further cooling of the recent resurgence of growth in the service sector."
On the corporate front, shares in British online supermarket Ocado surged more than 10 percent after it settled a dispute over robot patents with Norwegian company AutoStore.
- Key figures around 1100 GMT -
London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.1 percent at 7,659.89 points
Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.1 percent at 16,197.25
Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.3 percent at 7,413.44
EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 0.3 percent at 4,378.37
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 1.2 percent at 32,700.94 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 2.1 percent at 18,668.15 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.1 percent at 3,164.16 (close)
New York - Dow: FLAT at 35,227.69 (close)
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1091 from $1.1131 on Friday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2840 from $1.2852
Euro/pound: DOWN at 86.38 pence from 86.56 pence
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 141.20 yen from 141.77 yen
Brent North Sea crude: UP 0.6 percent at $81.54 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.6 percent at $77.55 per barrel
burs/bcp/lth
M.Davis--CPN