German share price index DAX graph is pictured at the stock exchange in FrankfurtA light calendar for Europe today means markets are likely to take their cues from Asia, and there's a lot going on - particularly in China.
Country Garden, China's biggest private developer, added to pressure on the sector at the centre of the country's economic woes as it faces a new round of voting by creditors - the third this month - to avert default, in this case by extending debt repayments to onshore creditors by three years. Mainland blue chips were firmer, though, buoyed perhaps by an easing of deflationary pressures in data released on Saturday.
That coincided with the yen's bounce from last week's 10-month low after Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda signalled in an interview with the Yomiuri newspaper that the negative interest rate policy could be on the way out as soon as the year-end.The ECB sets rates on Thursday, and bets for a hike have been ramping up amid some hawkish comments from officials, along with the rally in crude oil prices.