European markets closed slightly lower on Monday, failing to follow a rally seen in other global markets after a stronger-than-expected employment report in the U.S. last week.
European markets
The pan-European Stoxx 600 ended 0.14 percent lower with most sectors in negative territory and major bourses mixed.
Losses from Paddy Power Betfair and PostNL offset gains from basic resources and energy stocks on Monday. Shares of the gambling firm, Paddy Power Betfair, slipped more than 5 percent after the company announced CEO Breon Corcoran would step down.
Shares of Dutch postal company, PostNL, also closed around 5 percent lower after it said its full-year profits would fall short of expectations due to regulatory changes.
Basic resources stocks ended up almost 2 percent on Monday amid an uptick in Chinese iron ore prices. ArcelorMittal surged over 4 percent while Anglo American, BHP Billiton, and Rio Tinto all moved more than 2 percent higher on the news.
Looking at individual stocks, the Italian lender BPM jumped 2.4 percent after reports that it could earn as much as 1.1 billion euros ($ 1.3 billion) from the sale of its asset management arm.
Meanwhile, in the U.S., stock indexes were mixed on Monday after the Dow Jones industrial average had set a fresh all-time high in early deals. The blue-chips index, which closed at a record high for the eighth consecutive session on Friday, was supported by a stronger-than-anticipated employment report.
Sanctions on North Korea
Meanwhile, the United Nations decided to implement new sanctions against North Korea over its intercontinental ballistic missile tests. The sanctions could slash $3 billion of the country's annual export revenue, Reuters reported. In a telephone call on Sunday, President Donald Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in agreed to apply maximum pressure on Pyongyang. In China, state media reported that the U.S. needed to curb its "moral arrogance" over North Korea, also according to Reuters.
On the data front, the U.K.'s Halifax price index for July showed an increase of 2.1 percent in house prices in the second quarter of the year, compared to the same period last year. Prices were up by 0.4 percent on the month.
Elsewhere, investor morale across the euro zone slipped amid expectations the bloc's economy may have peaked. The Sentix investor confidence index dropped to 27.7 in August, down from 28.3 in July.
In commodity markets, oil prices were lower on Monday, sliding away from nine-week highs amid concerns of high production from the U.S. and OPEC. Brent was trading at $51.52 per barrel and WTI was being sold at $48.67.
