European stocks mixed; ECB meeting eyed, react to London attack

Bourses in Europe were mixed during Monday morning trade as investors eyed an upcoming monetary policy meeting from the European Central Bank (ECB) and reacted to the terrorist attack in London over the weekend, just a few days ahead of a general election.

The FTSE 100 was 0.15 percent higher while the CAC 40 dropped slightly, by around 0.1 percent. In Germany markets were closed due to a public holiday.

The best-performing stock in early trade was Ocado, which rose more than 6 percent. The U.K. online grocer is set to conclude a deal with an unnamed regional European retailer, Reuters reported.

Banco Popular, on the other hand, dropped more than 4 percent in early deals. The Spanish lender has been struggling since reports emerged that the bank would have to be wound down if it didn’t find a buyer.

Shares of the Portuguese energy firm EDP also fell nearly 3 percent on Monday morning after its CEO was named a suspect in a corruption investigation.

London attacks

U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May said that it’s time to step up the fight against Islamist extremism in the wake of the new attack. “It is time to say enough is enough,” she told the media after a terrorist attack killed at least seven people in central London on Saturday night.

Sterling stabilized after an initial drop on Monday morning with the country set for an election in four days’ time. The Conservative leader has been losing ground to her Labour opponent in the past few weeks. The dollar index hit its lowest level since the November U.S. election on Monday morning after a jobs report Friday came in lower-than-expected.

Oil prices were slightly higher as Saudi physical prices and signs of falling OPEC supplies dominated over an ongoing increase in U.S. production.

Investors will also be looking at U.K. PMI services data out at 09.30 a.m. London time and monthly car registrations at 09.00 a.m. London time.

Source: CNBC