European stocks flat as markets struggle to build momentum

LONDON — European stocks were flat on Tuesday as global markets look to cement gains after a bruising week for stocks last week. The pan-European Stoxx 600 hovered around the flatline after an hour of trading, having given back opening gains. Food and beverage stocks gained 0.8% while oil and gas stocks dropped 1%. In terms of individual share price movement, Britain’s Oxford Nanopore gained 5.6% in early trade after a successful microbial genome sequencing trial. At the bottom of the European blue chip index, shares of German mass media company ProSiebenSat.1 fell more than 8% after Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock to “sell” from “neutral.” European markets are looking to build on solid momentum after the region’s indexes closed higher on Monday, albeit wrapping up a quieter day for global markets given the July Fourth holiday in the United States. U.S. stock futures were also flat on Tuesday morning as earlier momentum fizzled out. Markets stateside are looking ahead to publication of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s minutes from its latest Federal Open Market Committee meeting on Wednesday. U.S. data releases this week also include the June jobs report on Friday. According to Dow Jones estimates, job growth likely slowed in June, with 250,000 nonfarm payrolls added, down from 390,000 in May. Economists surveyed expect the unemployment rate to hold at 3.6%. Shares in the Asia-Pacific region mostly traded higher overnight as the Reserve Bank of Australia raised interest rates by 50 basis points to 1.35%, in line with expectations. Central bank action is also likely to guide market sentiment in Europe this week. The Bank of England is due to publish its latest biannual Financial Stability Report on Tuesday. The European Central Bank is set to publish accounts of its latest monetary policy discussion on Thursday. On the data front, June’s euro area services PMI (purchasing managers’ index) came in at 53.0, slightly above a consensus forecast of 52.8 but down from 56.1 in May.