America News Agency

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was down 0.25 percent at 10:25 a.m. London time, with mining and oil and gas stocks down more than 1 percent. Media stocks added 0.5 percent.

Regional markets fell on Monday as September trading got underway, after the pan-European Stoxx 600
 index clocked a 1.33 percent gain for August.

Investors are continuing to consider the outlook for interest rates and markets. Markets have fully priced for the Federal Reserve to begin interest rate cuts in September, with the central bank’s next meeting set for Sept. 17-18.

A slew of U.S. data is due this week, including the purchasing managers’ index, factory orders, jobless claims, nonfarm payrolls and the unemployment rate.

In Europe, data released by the British Retail Consortium showed total sales were up 1 percent year on year in August — a moderation from 4.1 percent growth in the same month of 2023. Food sales were up 2.9 percent annually in the three months to August, as non-food sales dropped 1.7 percent.

U.S. markets were closed Monday for the Labor Day holiday, but stock futures were lower Tuesday as traders braced themselves for a potentially tough month ahead after a strong but volatile August.

Asia-Pacific markets mostly climbed overnight as investors assess South Korea’s August inflation numbers, which eased to its lowest level on a year-on-year basis since March 2021.