Europe open: Stocks little changed; Casino rallies on sale

European stocks were little changed in early trade following heavy losses last week, as investors looked for fresh catalysts.

At 0845 GMT, the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 index and Germany’s DAX were both 0.3% higher, while France’s CAC 40 was up 0.1%.

“European equities are starting out the new trading week little changed as markets in China and South Korea are closed for the Lunar New Year and due to an overall lack of major new developments over the weekend,” said Markus Huber, senior analyst at Peregrine & Black.

“In the aftermath of the release of weaker than expected US non-farm payrolls but higher US average hourly earnings on Friday many major European indices hit new lows for the year consequently generating additional sell signals on daily and weekly charts. It wouldn't come as too much of a surprise if markets would try to stage a bounce as early bargain-hunter take advantage of the lower prices however with the overall trend remaining negative profit-taking later in the day appears likely.”

Oil prices were a little higher, with West Texas Intermediate up 0.5% at $31.03 a barrel and Brent crude 0.7% higher at $34.28.

In corporate news, shares in French supermarket operator Casino rallied after it said it has agreed to sell its majority stake in Thai supermarket Big C Supercenter for €3.1bn excluding debt.

Randgold Resources racked up solid gains in London after delivering record output for 2015, although profits slipped.

Air France-KLM was also on the front foot after the airline posted a 3% rise in year-on-year traffic in January.

Credit Suisse edged up following press reports the bank’s chief executive officer, Tidjane Thiam, has asked the board to cut his 2015 bonus by between 25% and 50%.

On the downside, BT Group nudged lower after it confirmed reports that it is looking for a new group finance director.

Assa Abloy was weaker after the lock maker’s fourth-quarter results missed expectations.