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EUROPE BEFORE THE BELL, LOTS OF NEWS BUT WHAT TO DO?

European shares are set to open pretty much flat as traders try and get a grip on quite what the latest set of talks out of the U.S. on trade mean.

The latest development there is President Donald Trump saying the U.S. will impose an additional 10% tariff on any countries aligning themselves with the "Anti-American policies" of the BRICS group of developing nations, whose leaders kicked off a summit in Brazil on Sunday.

He also said the United States is close to finalizing several trade pacts in coming days and will notify other countries of higher tariff rates by July 9, with the higher rates set to take effect on August 1.

Despite that - or because of that, who knows at this stage - Euro STOXX 50 futures are effectively flat ahead of the start of the week.

The only somewhat meaningful mover are FTSE futures, down 0.2%, with lower oil prices, after OPEC+ surprised markets by hiking output more than expected in August, a factor there. O/R

Other things to note are, China's finance ministry said on Sunday it was restricting government purchases of medical devices from the European Union that exceed 45 million yuan ($6.3 million) in value, in retaliation to Brussels' own curbs last month.

Company news wise French IT services firm Capgemini CAPP.PA has agreed to buy technology outsourcing company WNS WNS.N for a cash payment of $3.3 billion

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