U.S. markets are closed on Monday for the Labor Day public holiday. European stocks fell on Monday as the first trading day in September was underway and investors considered the outlook for markets. The pan-European Stoxx 600 was last down by 0.35% at 2:10 p.m. London time, with most regional bourses and sectors pulling back. Retail stocks were last 1.2% lower, while telecoms was one of the only sectors to gain and was last up 0.62%. Asia-Pacific markets were mixed on Monday, with some major markets reversing losses as investors assessed China’s business activity numbers released over the weekend, while awaiting a slew of data due later this week. Hong Kong Hang Seng index tumbled 1.85% as of its final hour of trade, while the CSI300 shed 1.70% to 3,265.01, hitting its lowest level in seven months. Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.14% to close at 38,700.87, while the broad based Topix was 0.12% higher at 2,715.99. The Nikkei briefly crossed the 39,000 mark earlier in the session, making it the first time that the index had crossed 39,000 since July 31. South Korea’s Kospi was 0.25% up at 2,681, while the small cap Kosdaq gained 0.2% and ended at 769.21. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 reversed losses and rose 0.22% to 8,109.9. At this level, the index is less than 5 points from its all time closing high of 8,114.7. Oil prices extended losses on Monday with investors weighing higher OPEC+ production from October against a sharp drop in output from Libya amid sluggish demand in China and the U.S., the world’s two biggest oil consumers. Brent crude futures fell 57 cents, or 0.7%, to $76.36 a barrel by 0108 GMT while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude slipped 50 cents, or 0.7%, to $73.05 a barrel. The losses followed a 0.3% decline for Brent last week and a 1.7% drop for WTI. Gold prices dipped on Monday as the dollar strengthened, while investors awaited key U.S. jobs data to firm their bets on the size of Federal Reserve’s interest rate cut expected this month. Spot gold was down 0.3% at $2,494.76 per ounce, as of 0330 GMT. U.S. gold futures held steady at $2,527.20. The dollar hit a near two-week peak, making greenback-priced bullion less appealing to other currency holders.
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