France's CAC 40 inched up 0.1% in early trading to 5,584.67, while Germany's DAX was flat at 12,387,54. Britain's FTSE 100 gained 0.3% to 7,555.49.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin told reporters in Washington on Monday that he has held "several conversations" with Chinese officials and expects another phone call this week."To the extent that we make significant progress I think we'll go there," he said. Shares have jumped since early June on increasing expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will cut interest rates to help the economy, and investors are virtually certain that it will happen at the next Fed meeting at the end of this month. The only question, investors say, is how deeply the Fed will cut when it lowers rates for the first time in a decade.