European stock markets futures, open, close; bitcoin in focus

European stocks were muted at the start of the trading week as investors continued to focus on inflation concerns and bitcoin’s moves lower.

It looks set to be a quieter trading day in Europe with markets closed in Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, Norway, Belgium and Austria for the Whit Monday public holiday. Britain’s FTSE 100 and France’s CAC 40 inched fractionally above the flatline in early trade.

Other events in focus on Monday include the EU’s special meeting of the European Council at which Covid-19, the environment and EU-U.K. relations are set to be discussed.

Stateside, U.S. stock index futures advanced in early premarket trading on Monday after the S&P 500 posted its second negative week in a row.

U.S. stocks are coming off a mixed week which saw the Dow post its fourth negative week in five, while the S&P registered two straight weeks of losses for the first time since February. The Nasdaq Composite, meanwhile, gained 0.31% last week, snapping a four-week losing streak.

Despite the tech-heavy index’s weekly gain, however, it ended Friday’s session in the red as bitcoin prices once again moved lower, putting pressure on the wider technology sector.

The cryptocurrency’s sell-off continued on Sunday, with bitcoin dropping around 16% to under $32,000, according to data from Coin Metrics. On Wednesday, bitcoin prices tumbled to just above $30,000, dropping to the lowest level since late January.

Meanwhile, Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed Monday, with markets in Japan, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia advancing.

– CNBC’s Pippa Stevens contributed to this market report.