European markets opened in negative territory on Monday, with investors in the region gearing up for a busy period of earnings and the European Central Bank’s latest interest rate decision.
The Stoxx 600 index opened 0.7% lower, after notching a 1.2% weekly gain. Sectors were mixed, with telecom up 0.6% as technology shares plunged 3.82%.
Weak tech performance was mirrored in Asia markets and U.S. futures, as the success of Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek sparked concerns over incumbent Wall Street giants’ global leadership in AI.
Shares of budget airline Ryanair were up 2.4% after the company posted better-than-expected quarterly profit, but cut its full-year 2026 traffic growth forecast in light of aircraft delivery delays at Boeing.
Earnings later this week will include LVMH, Shell, ASML, Roche, Deutsche Bank and Nokia.
On Thursday, the euro zone and core European economies France and Germany will report their latest growth data, and the European Central Bank and the U.S. Federal Reserve will be closely watched as they announce their latest monetary policy decisions.
Overnight in the Asia-Pacific region, Japan and Hong Kong markets traded mostly higher as investors assessed China’s manufacturing and industrial profit data.
U.S. stock futures fell early Monday as investors look ahead to a major earnings week, with four out of seven companies in the “Magnificent Seven'” set to post quarterly earnings: Meta Platforms, Microsoft and Tesla each report on Wednesday, and Apple will release results on Thursday.
