European Shares Set For Steady Start As Oil Slides

European stocks may open on a positive note Monday after U.S. markets posted strong gains on Friday amid optimism that the economy remains healthy.

Easing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East may also help underpin investor sentiment after Israel's military said that it was reducing its numbers of soldiers from southern Gaza amid talks for a potential ceasefire.

Asian markets fluctuated in muted trade, though Japan's Nikkei rallied about 1 percent on a weaker yen.

Chinese and Hong Kong stocks were subdued after a Chinese state-run bank filed a liquidation petition against heavily indebted developer Shimao Group.

The dollar was sluggish in Asian trading while gold surged to record highs ahead of a busy week for economic data releases and Fed speeches. Oil prices fell over 1 percent as Middle East tensions eased.

U.S. inflation data will move back into the spotlight this week, with reports on consumer and producer price inflation for March due to be released on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.

A report on U.S consumer sentiment for April, speeches by Fed officials and the release of minutes of the Federal Reserve's March monetary policy meeting may offer additional clues on the interest rate path ahead.

Traders also await cues from the U.S. earnings season, with Delta Air Lines, BlackRock Inc., Wells Fargo & Company, JPMorgan Chase & Co., and Citigroup Inc. among the prominent companies due to unveil their financial results this week.

Closer home, the governing council of the European Central Bank (ECB) meets this week amid clear indications that inflationary pressures are easing.

The central bank is expected to keep its key rate unchanged while laying the ground for a first interest-rate cut in June.

U.S. stocks rose sharply on Friday as data showed the world's largest economy added more jobs than expected in March and the jobless rate edged down to 3.8 percent from 3.9 percent in February.

Non-farm payroll employment spiked by 303,000 jobs in March after surging by a downwardly revised 270,000 jobs in February.

The report showed muted wage inflation, raising optimism the upcoming CPI report might not surprise to the upside.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite surged 1.2 percent, the S&P 500 added 1.1 percent and the Dow gained 0.8 percent.

European stocks fell on Friday amid persisting tensions in the Middle East and continued uncertainty about the Fed's rate trajectory.

The pan European STOXX 600 declined 0.8 percent. The German DAX lost 1.2 percent, France's CAC 40 shed 1.1 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 gave up 0.8 percent.

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