(RTTNews) - The European markets may open on a flat to negative note on Monday, extending the previous session’s weakness on renewed worries pertaining to economic recovery. With the leading U.S. lender CIT Group filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, financials would be in the spotlight.

The markets across the Asia-Pacific region showed weakness on Monday with most of them hitting multi-week lows. Though some markets found some support at lower levels, the mood remained quite bearish across the region.

However, crude oil showed modest gains in Asian trading on Monday after closing sharply lower at $77 a barrel, down $2.87 on Friday.

On the economic front, Markit Economics announced that the NEVI Netherlands Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index stood at a seasonally adjusted 50.5 in October, up slightly from 50.0 in September.

Separately, a report from property data manager Hometrack showed that the average asking price of a home in the United Kingdom rose by 0.2 percent to 156,400 pounds in October. On an annual basis, home prices were down 4.2 percent following the 5.6 percent contraction in the previous month.

The major U.S. averages fell by about 2.5% each on Friday as disappointing reports on personal spending and consumer confidence raised doubts over an economic revival. Concerns that monetary and fiscal stimulus measures may end soon also weighed on markets ahead of the release of Fed’s policy statement on Wednesday at the end of its two-day meeting.

In corporate news, Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc may reach an agreement enabling it to exit a U.K. government program that would insure its risky assets earlier than predicted, the Bloomberg reported on Saturday citing a person familiar with the situation.

Bio-pharmaceutical company Shire Plc reported a profit for the third quarter from a loss last year, helped by lower expenses and the absence of heavy litigation and lease-related charges that impacted year-ago results.

Santander will be allowed to bid for Royal Bank of Scotland’s 312 business-focused branches under competition rules agreed between Brussels and London, the Financial Times reported.

Winemaker Constellation Brands said that it is in talks to merge a portion of its Australian and U.K. businesses with Sydney headquartered Australian Vintage to combat difficult trading conditions.

Lloyds Banking Group is aiming to raise GBP 7.5 billion of so-called contingent convertibles, or Cocos, the Financial Times reported.

Human Genome Sciences, Inc. and GlaxoSmithKline Plc announced that belimumab 10 mg/kg plus standard of care achieved a statistically significant improvement in patient response rate as measured by the SLE Responder Index at Week 52, compared with placebo plus standard of care.

Bayerische Motoren Werke AG has reportedly denied that it is in talks with SAIC, China’s biggest automaker, for producing the German company’s 7 series model in China.

The European markets fell on Friday, as a report from the U.S. Commerce Department showed consumer spending dropped for the first time in five months and commodity stocks slipped after metals and crude oil prices tumbled.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index of pan-European blue chips closed 2.11% lower, while the narrower DJ Stoxx 50 index fell 2.19%. Around Europe, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 index fell 1.81%, France’s CAC 40 index slipped 2.86% and Germany’s DAX index dropped 3.09%.

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Posted in Categories: Australia, Eurozone, Releases, Stocks, UK, USA.

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