Europe open: Stocks edge ahead in quiet trade

European stocks edged ahead at the open on Monday, as investors looked on for direction after weak China manufacturing data.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was up 0.12% in early deals as investors prepared for another busy week of corporate news.

The mixed trade for European stocks comes after the region’s markets closed the month of July higher on Friday, and logged their best month since November 2020.

In China, the latest National Bureau of Statistics manufacturing purchasing managers’ index unexpectedly fell to 49.0 in July, from 50.2 in the previous month and missing market forecasts of 50.4.

In equity news, Pearson shares jumped more than 6.5% as the education and publishing company posted strong quarterly results, while HSBC climbed 5.8% after raising profitability targets and pledging to resume dividends next year.

Swedish real estate company SBB fell more than 8% after Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock to 'sell' from 'neutral'.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti at Sharecast.com