Steady Start For European Stocks; Banks, Oil Ease

European stock markets opened steady to slightly lower on Monday, with sentiment weighed by data showing weaker-than-expected growth in Japan.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell 0.2% to 269.41, with Petrofac Ltd. among the big movers, down over 4%, after it posted first-half results, while banking group Standard Chartered PLC was up 1.5%. The German DAX 30 index fell 0.2% to 6,931.02, the French CAC 40 index was down 0.2% to 3,429.70 and the FTSE 100 index fell 0.2% to 5,834.92.

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