Global Markets Mixed Ahead of Bumper Central-Bank Week

Global stock markets were mixed to start the week, with falls across Asia even as European bourses opened up and U.S. stock futures pointed to a modestly higher open. Weak Chinese economic data and the continued fallout from renewed concerns over tech-sector valuations related to the artificial-intelligence boom were behind the falls in Asia. In Europe, financial stocks and miners were the main gainers.

Ahead: a slew of rate decisions from the European Central Bank, the Bank of England, Nordic central banks and the Bank of Japan, among others. An interest-rate increase is expected in Japan, a rate cut in the U.K., while the eurozone’s central bank could signal that rates are unlikely to fall any further.