Global stock markets turned lower on Monday after key U.S. indexes hit record highs in the wake of strong job numbers last week, AP reported. Stocks had rallied last week after the official U.S. jobs report showed the world's largest economy generated a stronger-than-expected 288,000 jobs in June and that the unemployment report fell to 6.1 percent. "The market saw another piece of evidence that the U.S. economy is gathering steam while at the same time central bank rhetoric remains dovish," said Credit Agricole CIB in a report. But on Monday, after a long weekend in the U.S., traders seemed reluctant to chase stocks any higher. By midafternoon in Europe, France's CAC-40 was down 1 percent to 4,423.37 while Germany's DAX was off 0.6 percent to 9,953.96. Britain's FTSE 100 dropped 0.5 percent to 6,830.77. On Wall Street, the Dow traded 0.4 percent lower at 16,939, having closed above 17,000 for the first time on Thursday ahead of the three-day Independent Day weekend. The S&P 500 fell 0.3 percent to 1,979.04. Investors are keeping an eye on upcoming corporate earnings. "Companies in the U.S. are widely expected to report better earnings after the winter slumber," said Desmond Chua of CMC Markets in a report. Earlier, in Asia, China's benchmark Shanghai Composite Index was little changed while Tokyo's Nikkei 225 shed 0.4 percent to 15,379.44. Sydney and Seoul also declined. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was flat at 23,540.92. Taiwan, India and Jakarta rose. U.S. crude for August delivery was down 26 cents to $103.80 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In currency trading, the euro rose to $1.3598 from $1.3594 late Friday. The dollar fell to 101.86 yen from 102.08 yen. -- SPA 16:46 LOCAL TIME 13:46 GMT تغريد
