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London • Weak Chinese economic data kept a lid on world stock markets Monday as investors looked ahead to a U.S. Federal Reserve meeting and Scotland's independence referendum.
KEEPING SCORE: In Europe, Germany's DAX was up 0.1 percent at 9,662 while France's CAC-40 declined 0.2 percent to 4,434. Britain's FTSE 100 shed 0.1 percent to 6,803. Wall Street appeared set for a flat session with Dow futures and the broader S&P 500 futures down 0.1 percent.
CHINESE SLOWDOWN: Weak data released on the weekend fueled concern China's economic slowdown is deepening. Industrial production in August grew at its slowest rate since the 2008-09 global financial crisis. Investment in infrastructure and manufacturing also slowed. Though the figures were a disappointment, the market reaction was fairly muted as investors think it may make it more likely that China's monetary authorities may back a fresh stimulus for the world's number 2 economy.
ANALYST TAKE: "The debate appears to be focused on when Beijing will offer up some additional stimulus measures and what will these look like," said Joao Monteiro, analyst at Valutrades.
ASIA'S DAY: Those hopes helped sure up China's Shanghai Composite, which rebounded from losses to end the day up 0.3 percent at 2,339.14. Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng sank 1 percent to 24,356.99 and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 1 percent to 5,473.50. Tokyo was closed for a holiday.
FED MEETING: The main market event this week is likely to be the Fed's two-day policy meeting, which concludes on Wednesday. Investors will be watching for any change in their guidance about the future direction for interest rates. Analysts have warned over the past week that the Fed might raise interest rates sooner than expected but say such a change still could be some way off. Industrial production data for August due later will be assessed in that context. They are expected to show a 0.3 percent rise in August from the previous month, slightly down on July's 0.4 percent increase.
SCOTLAND'S CHOICE: The other big event this week is Thursday's independence referendum in Scotland. With opinion polls showing the vote too close to call, there's potential for some sizeable move in U.K. markets. The pound has been extremely volatile in the last couple of weeks as the opinion polls have narrowed. On Monday the pound was 0.2 percent lower at $1.6238.
CURRENCIES: The mood was fairly lackluster across currency markets too, with the euro 0.4 percent lower at $1.2935 and the dollar 0.1 percent lower at 107.25 yen.
ENERGY: The soft Chinese data weighed on oil markets, where the benchmark U.S. oil fell 82 cents a barrel at $91.45 per barrel. Brent crude, used to price international oils, declined 54 cents to $96.59 a barrel.