People walk along London Bridge past the City of London skyline.
LONDON — European stocks were lower Monday, starting the week and the final trading session of September in negative territory.
The pan-European Euro Stoxx 600 was down 0.8% at around 10:21 a.m. London time, with auto stocks the biggest laggards, down 4%.
Milan-listed shares of Dodge-maker Stellantis shed 12% after the automaker trimmed its 2024 annual guidance amid deteriorating "global industry dynamics" and bolstered competition from China.
France's Renault traded more than 6% lower on Monday, while German automakers Porsche and Volkswagen were both down around 3%.
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The lackluster start for European markets comes after the pan-European Stoxx 600 index closed at a fresh record high on Friday, as stocks got a boost from China's announcement last week of a range of stimulus measures that aim to boost the economy.
Overnight in the Asia-Pacific region, stocks in mainland China spiked over 8% while Japan's Nikkei 225 tumbled nearly 5%, as investors assessed key economic data from the two countries.
Money Report
China's official purchasing managers' index reading came in at 49.8 for September, better than the 49.5 expected by economists polled by Reuters. However, the print marked a fifth straight month of contraction for the manufacturing sector in China.
Separate data from Japan showed industrial production in the country dropped 4.9% year on year in August, exceeding the 0.4% fall of the previous month.
U.S. stock futures were flat on Sunday night, after major U.S. averages logged their third consecutive week of gains.
— CNBC's Lim Hui Jie contributed to this market report.
