European stocks muted

Europe's main stock markets were muted in morning deals on Monday as EU finance ministers were to sign off Greece's new bailout at a Brussels meeting, while traders also digested weak Chinese data.

London's benchmark FTSE 100 index of leading shares was flat at 5,887.38 points, Frankfurt's DAX 30 won 0.36 percent to 6,904.69 points and in Paris the CAC 40 edged up 0.08 percent to 3,490.39.

In foreign exchange trading, the European single currency rose slightly to $1.3124 from $1.3120 late in New York on Friday.

“Equity markets this morning awoke to a slightly larger wall of worry to climb than they left on Friday afternoon, with Asia's superpower spluttering once again in the face of a now established trend of softer economic performance,” said Spreadex trader David White.

The deficit was the biggest for at least 12 years, according to Dow Jones Newswires -- the extent of its archived data -- and far in excess of the median forecast of $8.5 billion among 15 economists it surveyed.

AFP