Investing.com - European stocks opened lower on Monday, after rallying sharply on Friday thanks to dovish comments by European Central Bank President Mario Draghi and a surprise rate cut by China's central bank.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 dropped 0.51%, France’s CAC 40 slid 0.61%, while Germany’s DAX 30 slipped 0.18%.
European equities soared after ECB President Draghi said the ECB had discussed lowering the deposit rate at its meeting last Thursday and added that that the bank could enlarge its asset purchase program or speed up bond purchases.
The comments underlined the diverging monetary policy stance between the Federal Reserve and central banks in the rest of the world. The Fed is currently expected to start hiking interest rates sometime in early 2016.
Global equities were also boosted after the People's Bank of China unexpectedly cut interest rates on Friday. It was the sixth rate cut since last November, amid efforts by authorities to shore up slowing growth in the world’s second largest economy.
Financial stocks were broadly lower, as French lenders BNP Paribas (PA:BNPP) and Societe Generale (PA:SOGN) declined 0.70% and 0.23%, while Germany's Commerzbank (DE:CBKG) and Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn) tumbled 0.87% and 1.77%.
Among peripheral lenders, Italy's Unicredit (MI:CRDI) retreated 0.66%, while Spanish banks BBVA (MC:BBVA) and Banco Santander (MC:SAN) lost 0.14% and 0.66% respectively.
Elsewhere, Peugeot SA (PA:PEUP) plummeted 2.03% after the French carmaker said third-quarter revenues climbed 3.2% year-on-year but sales volumes declined 4.3%.
Philips Kon (AS:PHG) saw shares tumble 2.06% after the Dutch group reported third quarter net profit of €324 million versus a loss of €103 million the year before, but added that the sale of its Lumileds lighting business is in doubt because of opposition from the U.S. government.
In London, commodity-heavy FTSE 100 dropped 0.60%, weighed by losses in the mining sector.
Shares in Bhp Billiton (L:BLT) retreated 0.96% and Rio Tinto (L:RIO) tumbled 1.26%, while Glencore (L:GLEN) lost 1.32% and Anglo American (L:AAL) plummeted 1.72%.
Financial stocks were also broadly lower, as Lloyds Banking (L:LLOY) declined 0.58% and the Royal Bank of Scotland (L:RBS) retreated 0.76%, while HSBC Holdings (L:HSBA) tumbled 0.95%. Barclays (L:BARC) held steady, with shares dipping just 0.04%.
WPP (L:WPP) added to losses, with shares plunging 2.04% even after the world's biggest advertising company reported a 5.9% increase in third-quarter revenue.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a lower open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.27% fall, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.31% slide, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.33% decline.