A look at the day ahead in European and global markets from

Gregor Stuart Hunter

Sure enough, you wait ages for a central bank meeting, and then

they come along all at once.

Okay, yes, fine, we had the ECB last week. But this week

sees the U.S. Federal Reserve, the Bank of England, the Bank of

Japan and a host of other central banks from Toronto to Taipei

deciding on interest rates.

The Fed holds its latest policy meeting with a historic

challenge to its leadership pending in the courts and a rushed

effort underway to confirm President Donald Trump's nominee to

fill an open seat on its Board of Governors, which should

provide some resolution to questions over the central bank's

independence that have bubbled throughout the summer.

Markets are fully pricing in a 25-basis-point-cut on

Wednesday, but have reined in expectations of a jumbo 50 bps

reduction to just 3.8%, according to the CME Group's FedWatch

tool.

They started the week gently enough, with stocks in Asia

floating 0.1% higher with Japanese markets

closed for a holiday, and South Korea's Kospi index

hitting a new record as the government scrapped plans to hike

taxes on capital gains.

In early European trades, the pan-region futures

were up 0.11%, German DAX futures were flat, and FTSE

futures slipped 0.1%. OAT futures extended

declines for a second day after Fitch downgraded France's credit

rating on Friday.

The S&P 500 e-minis U.S. stock futures were up 0.1%

ahead of Friday's Triple Witching event, which sees the expiry

of single-stock options, as well as equity index futures and

options.

The U.S. and Britain are preparing to announce agreements on

technology and civil nuclear energy during U.S. President Donald

Trump's unprecedented second state visit this week, as the UK

hopes to finalise steel tariffs under a much-vaunted trade deal.

In other trade news, U.S. and Chinese officials concluded a

first day of talks in Madrid on Sunday on their strained trade

ties, and will resume them later on Monday.

Trump said he was still negotiating on the divestiture deadline

for Chinese short-video app TikTok, with a source telling

Reuters the U.S. is expected to again extend a September 17

deadline for China's ByteDance to divest its U.S. assets.

Data on Monday showed the Chinese economy lost some momentum

in August, with a slew of activity indicators coming below

forecasts. Its industrial output expanded at 5.2%, slowing from

the 5.7% pace of the previous month, while retail sales rose

only 3.4% from a year ago.

Elsewhere in China, there were worrying signs that the

red-hot Labubu bubble may be starting to burst. Plushie-maker

Pop Mart ( POPMF ) shares sank as much as 9% in Hong Kong after

J.P. Morgan downgraded the shares to neutral, saying the stock

is priced for perfection, and vulnerable to setbacks.

Analysts from the Wall Street bank expressed disappointment

over the lack of visibility for the next iteration of the brand,

such as the release timeline for new animations or interactive

toys. Give the people what they want, Pop Mart ( POPMF )!

Key developments that could influence markets on Monday:

Economic data:

Euro zone trade balance for July

Euro zone reserve assets for August

Debt auctions:

France: 4-month, 5-month, 6-month and 1-year government debt

auctions

Germany: 1-year government debt auction

(Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)