European stock markets turned in a mixed performance yesterday in lacklustre trading as Wall Street lingered near record territory.
Asian equities advanced yesterday, spurred on by strong US jobs figures on Friday which raised optimism over the health of the world’s biggest economy.
US stocks picked up yesterday where they left off last week, when rosy employment figures had sent the US blue-chip Dow index to an eighth straight record finish.
“The Dow Jones hit another record high as the bullish sentiment is not showing any signs of slowing down,” said analyst David Madden at CMC markets UK.
However the Dow later stalled, with low oil prices dragging down energy stocks. 
London pushed higher, rising 0.3% at 7,531.94 points. However Frankfurt slid 0.3% at 12,257.17, hobbled by lacklustre second-quarter earnings from German healthcare giant Fresenius. Paris picked up a few points at the closing bell after spending most of the day flat.
“The FTSE 100 is the dong well by comparison as the strength of the mining sector has kept the London equity benchmark in the black,” said Madden.
A rally in iron ore prices in China due to low steel inventories and perked up demand helped shares pick up in companies like Rio Tinto, Glencore, Anglo American and BHP Billiton.
After Friday’s data showed the US economy added more than 200,000 net new positions for the second straight month in July – well above forecasts – attention will be turning to inflation figures. 
Sluggish inflation has been seen as a possible impediment to a third Federal Reserve interest rate hike later this year.
Analysts said the robust job creation figures coupled with rising wages could spur the US Federal Reserve to raise the cost of borrowing a third time this year to keep a tight rein on inflation. 
“The combination of stronger jobs and wage growth, a fall in the unemployment rate and an increase in the participation rate all scream a strong labour market,” added Greg McKenna, analyst at AxiTrader. 
“That, in turn, reinforces the Fed’s path back toward policy normalisation and suggests the tapering of the balance sheet will begin soon and more rate hikes are coming.”
The prospect of higher rates led to gains for the dollar on Friday, but it pulled back against the euro yesterday.
Continuing political turmoil in Washington has cast doubt on President Donald Trump’s stalled economic growth agenda and dragged the dollar down, and market-watchers warned the outlook for the currency remains uncertain. 
“Given typical August liquidity conditions, we could be in for a bumpy week as the market irons out if we’re in a short-term USD correction or a trend reversal,” said Oanda analyst Stephen Innes. 
Among commodities, US crude was trading at under $49 as a meeting of leading oil-exporting countries gets under way to examine why some producers were failing to fully implement cuts to rein in global supply.