European Shares Seen Opening Lower After Trump Assassination Attempt

(RTTNews) - European stocks are set to open on a sluggish note Monday after having hit a one-month high in the previous session on upbeat earnings and hopes the United States will see lower interest rates this year.

European leaders were united on Sunday in vigorously condemning the political violence that erupted overnight across the Atlantic in light of the assassination attempt against former U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday.

It is believed that the attempted assassination will reshape the U.S. election race, with consequences for the world and Europe.

Asian markets traded mixed, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng index falling more than 1 percent after data showed China's economy grew much slower than expected in the second quarter.

Q2 GDP rose by 4.7 percent, down from the 5.3 percent year-on-year GDP increase in the first quarter and missing expectations for 5.1 percent growth.

June retail sales also missed estimates, while industrial production beat expectations and urban fixed asset investment for the first six months of the year met expectations.

The data piled pressure on Beijing to boost investor confidence at a twice-a-decade policy meeting.

Gold and oil prices were marginally higher in Asian trade. U.S. bond futures slipped while the dollar held firm ahead of a busy week of earnings and economic releases. Trading in the week ahead may be impacted by reaction to U.S. reports on retail sales, industrial production, import and export prices and housing starts.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell's speech later in the day will be closely watched following his testimony to the U.S. Congress last week, where he told lawmakers that he wants to see more good inflation data.

On the earnings front, Abbott Laboratories, Goldman Sachs, Johnson & Johnson, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, UnitedHealth, Netflix and American Express are among the prominent companies due to report their quarterly results this week.

Eurostat is scheduled to publish euro area industrial production for May later in the day. Economists forecast industrial output to fall 0.9 percent on month, following a 0.1 percent decrease in April.

U.S. stocks ended higher on Friday as large-cap stocks rebounded from steep losses in the previous session on expectations of Fed rate cuts.

Investors shrugged off data that showed U.S. producer prices increased slightly more than expected in June amid a rise in the cost of services.

The three major U.S. averages rose about 0.6 percent each even as Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase and Citigroup all fell after releasing their quarterly earnings results.

European stocks ended on a firm note for a third straight session on Friday.

The pan European STOXX 600 climbed 0.9 percent. The German DAX rallied 1.1 percent, France's CAC 40 jumped 1.3 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 rose 0.4 percent.