LIVE MARKETS-Europe before the bell: Mixed start, eyes on the bond market 

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EUROPE BEFORE THE BELL: MIXED START, EYES ON THE BOND MARKET

European equity futures are signalling a mixed start for the major bourses when the trading week gets underway, with eyes again on the moves in sovereign bonds and the energy market.

Euro STOXX 50 futures are down 0.1%. DAX and FTSE futures are a touch higher, while those on France's CAC are lower.

French assets have come under increasing focus due to growing worries about the country's fiscal position and stalemate in parliament before the presidential election next year.

Its bonds have underperformed euro zone peers, pushing the gap between its 10-year yield and Germany's to the widest since the euro zone debt crisis in 2012. The euro has also started to wobble and hit 17-month lows against the dollar on Monday.

Given France jitters, the last thing the euro zone needs is political instability in one of its other major economies, so eyes in Brussels will be on a press conference from Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez at 9 a.m. local time (0700 GMT), amid growing expectations that he will call an early general election.

In corporate news, Schneider Electric is called to open lower this morning after it said it had agreed to buy PTC in a deal valued at about $22.6 billion.

(Samuel Indyk)

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THE EURO HAS A FRANCE PROBLEM CLICK HERE