HONG KONG (AP) โ European markets opened weaker while Asian stocks retreated Monday after Wall Street posted its worst week since Halloween.
S&P 500 futures fell 0.1% and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures lost 0.3% after congressional leaders reached an agreement on general spending levels for the current fiscal year that could help avoid a partial government shutdown later this month.
Oil prices fell after Saudi Arabia on Sunday cut oil prices in Asian markets to their lowest level in 27 months.
Germany's DAX gained 0.1% to 16,620.57, with data showing exports rose 3.7% in November, while a weak rise in factory orders showed the economy was still far from a solid recovery.
The CAC 40 in Paris fell 0.1% to 7,413.53. Britain's FTSE 100 lost 0.3% to 7,670.10.
In Asian trading, Hong Kong's Hang Seng sank 1.9% to 16,179.00, led by losses in property and technology stocks, which fell 3.3%. The Shanghai Composite Index fell 1.4% to 2,887.54.
Real estate stocks sold off sharply following news that major Chinese shadow bank Zhongzhi Enterprise Group, a major lender to property developers, filed for bankruptcy in Beijing. Meanwhile, Chinese developer Evergrande's troubled electric vehicle company said its vice president had been detained on suspicion of unspecified "crimes."
Porcelain sanctions announced on Sunday against five defense-related US companies in response to US arms sales to Taiwan and US sanctions on Chinese companies and individuals. The announcement came before a presidential election in taiwan which focuses on the autonomous island's relationship with China, which claims it as its own territory.
In South Korea, the Kospi lost 0.4% to 2,567.82, and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.5% to 7,451.50. Taiwan's Taiex gained 0.3%, while Bangkok's SET fell 0.6%.
Markets in Japan were closed for holidays.
Investors are awaiting inflation reports from Japan, the United States and China later this week.
On Wall Street on Friday, the S&P 500 rose 0.2%, capping its first week of losses in the last 10. It reached 2024 on the hope that inflation and the broader economy are cooling enough that The Federal Reserve slashed interest rates throughout the year.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1% and the Nasdaq Composite also added 0.1%.
Treasury yields swung sharply in the bond market after the latest monthly jobs report showed U.S. Employers Unexpectedly Accelerated Hiring in December. Workers' average hourly wages also rose, when economists had predicted a fall.
Such strong numbers are good news for workers and should keep the economy going. This is positive for corporate profits, which are one of the main factors that set stock prices.
Wall Street's concern is that strong data could also convince investors Federal Reserve that inflation remains a danger. But another report on Friday showed that growth in finance, real estate and other businesses in the U.S. service industries slowed more than economists expected last month.
Taken together, the data could bolster Wall Street's growing hopes for a perfect landing for the economy, one in which it slows enough through high interest rates to end high inflation, but not so much as to cause a recession.
In other trading, the 10-year Treasury yield was at 4.05% early Monday, down from 4.04% Friday.
Benchmark U.S. crude oil fell 66 cents to $73.15 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the international standard, lost 68 cents to $78.08 a barrel.
The US dollar fell to 144.50 Japanese yen from 144.59 yen. The euro fell to $1.0933 from $1.0941 late Friday.
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