Europe open: China factory gate, CPI data dents sentiment

European shares opened lower on Monday as data showed China's factory-gate prices slumped in June, while consumer inflation was at its slowest since 2021.

The pan-regional Stoxx 600 index was down 0.20%, with all most bourses lower.

Producer prices in China slumped again in June, according to figures released on Monday by the National Bureau of Statistics, fuelling concerns about deflation.

Producer price inflation fell 5.4% year-on-year in June from 4.6% a month earlier and versus expectations of a 5% drop. This marked the worse decline since December 2015.

Meanwhile, the consumer price index slowed to 0% in June year-on-year from 0.2% in May, coming in below consensus expectations for it to be unchanged. This marked the lowest reading since February 2021.

"Lower inflation and producer prices readings combined to stoke fears of deflation and a further weakening of demand. The reports were a stark reminder that the economy is in need of an injection of stimulus to resume its recovery, with any number of data points indicating a broad-based evaporation of sentiment after an initially positive reaction to the country’s reopening," said Interactive Investor head of markets Richard Hunter.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com