European shares struggle ahead of speeches from ECB policymakers

(Reuters) -European shares dipped on Monday following a string of weekly losses, weighed down by real estate and technology stocks, while investors awaited speeches from European Central Bank policymakers to gauge the path of interest rates.

The continent-wide STOXX 600 index dropped 0.2% by 0909 GMT.

The benchmark posted its first four-week losing streak in 2-1/2 years on Friday, hit by disappointing earnings, a jump in Treasury yields and concerns about the impact of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s policies on global economies and businesses.

European tech shares dipped 0.6% ahead of AI bellwether Nvidia’s quarterly results on Wednesday. Most major sectors were lower, with real estate stocks leading declines.

Investors awaited speeches from ECB chief economist Philip Lane and President Christine Lagarde later in the day as well as euro zone November flash PMIs on Friday for clues on the path of interest rates.

“We think this week’s PMI readings are unlikely to fully reflect recent political highlights and should therefore not be expected to stray far from the most recent, subdued readings,” Unicredit analysts said in a note.

ECB Vice President Luis de Guindos said global trade tensions further the risk for an already weak euro zone economy. Another policymaker, Joachim Nagel, said the tariffs promised by Trump would upend international trade but may ultimately have a “minor impact” on inflation.

Traders are pricing in a 72% chance of a 25 bps rate cut by the ECB in December, and see cuts of 142 bps by the end of next year.

Britain’s Melrose Industries rose 8.6% after the owner of aerospace parts maker GKN Aerospace reported a 7% rise in revenue for the four-month period ended Oct. 31.

Dutch technology investor Prosus climbed 1.3% after its trading statement.

Grifols fell 2.8% after news website El Confidencial reported Canadian fund Brookfield planned to offer about 7 billion euros ($7.4 billion) for the Spanish drugmaker.

(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Devika Syamnath)