(RTTNews) - The major European markets are likely to open lower, tracking weak global cues. On Wall Street Friday, U.S. stocks fell despite the House of Representatives approving the government’s financial sector bailout plan, as the U.S. Labor Department reported weaker-than-expected jobs data for September. The Asian markets are trading sharply lower on Monday on concerns about the health of the world’s largest economy. However, the major European index futures are showing strength.

World oil prices continued to fall on Monday in the Asian session, as slowing global economic growth raised fears that the demand for oil will fall. The Brent North Sea crude futures were trading at $88.61 a barrel, down $1.64 at 11:36 p.m. ET. In London Friday, November Brent crude fell $1.7 to settle at $88.55 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

On the economic front, the major economic data scheduled for release in Europe are the U.K’s industrial production report for August and the NIESR GDP estimate for September. In the U.S., traders have little economic reports to digest on Monday.

On Friday, the Dow closed down 157 points or 1.5% at 10,325, the Nasdaq dropped 29 points or 1.5% to close at 1,947.39, and the S&P 500 gave away 15 points or 1.4% to finish at 1,099.

In the Asia-Pacific region Friday, Japan’s Nikkei and Australia’s All Ordinaries indexes are down about 3.2% each, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index and China’s Shanghai Composite index are giving away about 3.5% each, and South Korea’s KOSPI is plunging 4.3%.

The European markets closed higher on Friday, ahead of a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives on the $700 billion rescue plan for the country’s battered financial sector. The FTSEurofirst 300 index of pan-European blue chips closed up 3.0% at 1,089 and the narrower DJ Stoxx 50 index rose 3.7% to finish at 2,726. In Europe, the U.K.’ s FTSE 100 index climbed 2.3% to 4,980, France’s CAC 40 index surged up 3.0% to 4,080, and Germany’s DAX index advanced 2.4% to 5,797.

In the Asian session Monday, the euro tumbled to a new multi-year low against the yen and new multi-month lows against the pound and the U.S. dollar. The euro hit lows of 0.7716 against the pound, 1.3611 against the dollar and 141.19 against the yen. The 15-nation currency closed Friday’s European session at $1.3813, 146.45 yen and 0.7785 pound.

In Europe, Creston may react to reports that Cartesian Capital Group, a U.S. private-equity company, has written to Creston about a possible buyout of the company. Daimler may fall on reports that the company will cut production of Mercedes-Benz automobiles by 35,000 units at the plant in Sindelfingen, Germany.

Deutsche Post is likely to decline after a Robert Baird & Co. analyst said that the company’s DHL unit might significantly cut parcel deliveries within the U.S. because of deteriorating conditions, aiding United Parcel Service and FedEx Corp. Lancashire Holdings is likely to react to reports that the London-listed Bermuda-based insurer is set to announce Tuesday that it will move from the London’s Alternative Investment Market to the London Stock Exchange.

Nestle may decline after South Korea ordered the company to remove from store shelves three products that tested positive for an industrial chemical. Risanamento may rise after the property company said that it received an extension for the payment of a 60 million euros installment of a loan.

Siemens is likely to rise after chief executive officer Peter Loescher reiterated that the company’s operating profit might rise to as much as EUR 8.5 billion in 2009 despite a slowdown in the global economy.

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Posted in Categories: Australia, Economy, Eurozone, Japan, Releases, USA.

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