European stocks post small gains; manufacturing PMIs in focus

investing.com:

Investing.com — European stock markets edged higher Monday, continuing last week's positive sentiment while investors digest mixed regional manufacturing data.

At 03:25 ET (07:25 GMT), the DAX index in Germany traded 0.2% higher, the CAC 40 in France rose 0.2%, while the FTSE 100 in the U.K. traded 0.2% higher.

The major European indices are continuing to trade higher, adding to Friday's gains after the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge fell more than expected in May, raising hopes that the U.S. central bank may be less hawkish than feared in the run-up to the July rate-setting meeting.

The majority of the European economies are scheduled to release manufacturing PMI data this session, with Spain the first out of the blocks, showing a slight deterioration in June, compared with the previous month, but not as bad as feared.

The manufacturing sector is set to remain in contraction throughout the region, with most eyes on Germany, the eurozone’s dominant manufacturing base. This is expected to show a PMI release of 41.0 in June, a fall from 43.2 in May.

This should mean that gains are hard won Monday, especially as riots continued in France overnight, with President Emmanuel Macron forced to call off a state visit to Germany over the weekend.

Also of interest will be European Central Bank policymaker Joachim Nagel speaking at a financial conference, with the usually hawkish head of the Bundesbank likely to press the case for more interest rate hikes to combat inflation, which remains elevated in his country.

Helping the tone Monday was the release of a private survey showing that China’s manufacturing sector grew more than expected in June, with the Caixin/S&P Global manufacturing purchasing managers' index coming