Investing.com - European stocks edged lower on Monday, as investors remained cautious amid sustained expectations for further easing measures by the European Central Bank.
During European morning trade, the DJ Euro Stoxx 50 slipped 0.22%, France’s CAC 40 eased 0.08% higher, while Germany’s DAX fell 0.20%.
European equities strengthened last week amid mounting expectations that the ECB will ease monetary policy at its upcoming June meeting to safeguard the recovery in the euro zone and stop inflation from falling too low.
Recent comments by ECB officials have indicated that the bank is open to easing and is prepared to act swiftly if necessary.
Financial stocks were broadly lower, as French lenders BNP Paribas (PARIS:BNPP) and Societe Generale (PARIS:SOGN) declined 0.29% and 0.80%, while Germany's Deutsche Bank (XETRA:DBKGn) slid 0.46%.
Germany's biggest lender came under pressure after selling about 60 million shares to the Qatari royal family as it announced plans to raise €8 billion in its second-biggest capital increase.
Among peripheral lenders, Italy's Unicredit (MILAN:CRDI) and Intesa Sanpaolo (MILAN:ISP) plummeted 2.14% and 2.25% respectively, while Spain's Banco Santander (MADRID:SAN) and BBVA (MADRID:BBVA) retreated 0.32% and 0.49%.
Sporting-goods giant Adidas (XETRA:ADSGN) was also on the downside, with shares dropping 0.54%, after Chief Executive Officer Herbert Hainer said in an interview that the company will probably need more time to meet its 2015 sales and margin targets because of the strong euro.
In London, FTSE 100 declined 0.48%, led by Astrazeneca (LONDON:AZN), down 13.63% after rejecting a sweetened £69.4 billion takeover offer from Pfizer (NYSE:PFE), considered as too low.
Financial stocks were also mostly lower, as Lloyds Banking (LONDON:LLOY) slipped 0.25% and HSBC Holdings (LONDON:HSBA) retreated 0.55%, while Barclays (LONDON:BARC) tumbled 1.40%. The Royal Bank of Scotland (LONDON:RBS) hold steady, with shares easing up 0.06%.
On the upside, Ryanair (LONDON:RYA) surged 5.28% after the discount airline company said that sales rose 3% to €85.04 billion in the year ending March 31.
Adding to gains, services and maintenance company Mitie Group (LONDON:MTO) climbed 0.64% after saying full-year sales rose to £2.22 billion pounds, beating expectations for £2.12 billion.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a lower open. The Dow 30 futures pointed to a 0.18% fall, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.18% decline, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.17% loss.