KEEPING SCORE: Germany's DAX edged 0.2 percent higher to 11,434.89 and Britain's FTSE picked up 0.1 percent to 6,992.60. France's CAC 40 added 0.6 percent to 5,035.62. Wall Street looked poised to recoup Friday's losses which were triggered by news that the U.S. economy shrank in the first three months of the year. Dow futures were up 0.2 percent at 18,042.00. S&P 500 futures added 0.1 percent to 2,108.20.
CHINA SLOWDOWN: Two surveys released Monday showed China's manufacturing industry, which employs many millions of people, remained weak last month, adding to pressure on Beijing to roll out more measures to keep economic growth on target. The China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing's manufacturing index showed activity stagnating. HSBC's manufacturing index showed that manufacturing contracted for a third straight month as new export business fell at the sharpest rate in two years.
GREEK DRAMA: Greece's negotiations with its European creditors on reforms it must make to get a vital 7.2 billion euro ($7.8 billion) payment from the bailout plan keeping it afloat dragged on past the weekend. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras spoke with the French and German leaders on Sunday in their second conference call in three days to discuss progress in the talks, Greek officials said.
THE QUOTE: In China, "a policy driven pick-up in bank lending growth and recent efforts to speed up fiscal spending are now helping to shore up domestic demand. With more policy support likely in coming months, we are optimistic that growth will begin to pick up, at least over the short-run," Julian Evans-Pritchard of Capital Economics said in a commentary.
ASIA'S DAY: The Shanghai Composite jumped 4.7 percent to 4,828.74 after tumbling 6.5 percent on Thursday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.6 percent to 27,597.16. Japan's Nikkei 225 recovered from early losses, squeaking a smidgen higher to 20,569.87 while South Korea's Kospi sank 0.6 percent to 2,102.37. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.7 percent to 5,735.40.
ENERGY: The futures contract for benchmark U.S. crude oil fell 57 cents to $59.73 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Stock Exchange. It jumped $2.62 on Friday to $60.30 a barrel. Brent crude, used to price oil sold internationally, fell 50 cents to $65.06 per barrel.
CURRENCIES: The dollar fell to 124.03 yen from 124.14 yen in the previous global trading session. The euro fell to $1.0902 from $1.0909.
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