Morning Market Roundup: Stocks Cautious Ahead of Key Econ. Reports

Here’s what’s shaking:

Stocks:

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Markets have begun the new week sluggishly after a buoyant start to the year where many of the world's major stock indexes have been trading at multiyear highs.

With little to catch investors' eyes, trading has been muted Monday, particularly in Europe. However, a raft of economic data and corporate earnings over the week, particularly out of the U.S., should see the tempo pick up.

In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was flat at 6,283, while the CAC-40 in France was more or less unchanged at 3,776. Germany's DAX was 0.1 percent lower at 7,854.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.4 percent to 23,671.88. Mainland Chinese shares ended higher, with the Shanghai Composite Index jumping 2.4 percent to 2,346.51. The smaller Shenzhen Composite Index gained 2.5 percent to 932.61.

Trading was lackluster elsewhere in other financial markets too, with the euro down 0.1 percent at $1.3452 and the dollar 0.2 percent lower at 90.68 yen.

The price of benchmark New York crude was 8 cents higher at $95.96 a barrel.

Oil:

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The price of oil was steady near $96 a barrel on Monday as investors awaited the release this week of key U.S. economic indicators, including on jobs, home sales and GDP.

By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark oil for March delivery was down 4 cents to $95.84 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 7 cents to close at $95.88 on the Nymex on Friday after a report showed a cooling off in new U.S. home sales.

Analysts said there was scope for price gains if the data confirm a steady recovery in the U.S. economy, the world's largest.

Brent crude, used to price international varieties of oil, was down 31 cents to $112.97 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

Markets:

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The AP contributed to this report.