Stock prices fall globally

LONDON

Stock prices on European markets were dragged lower Monday by an expected retreat on Wall Street, at the start of a major week on the economic news front that may go a long way to determining investors' views about the world economy going into the last quarter of the year.

In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was down 26.26 points, or 0.5 percent, to 5,566.64 while Germany's DAX fell 62.27 points, or 1 percent, to 6,149.07. The CAC-40 in France was 38.65 points, or 1.1 percent, lower at 3,653.24.

Wall Street was poised for a fairly hefty retreat at the open later — Dow futures were down 42 points, or 0.4 percent, at 10,726 while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 futures fell 5.8 points, or 0.5 percent, to 1,136

Even though stocks enjoyed one of their best Septembers in years — the S&P 500 index added nearly 9 percent during the month alone, its best September performance since 1939 — sentiment remains fragile ahead of key economic data and a raft of central bank policy statements.

The key release this week comes on Friday with the monthly U.S. nonfarm payrolls report for September. The jobs data often set the market tone for a week or two after their release and investors will be closely monitoring the September data to see if the pace of job creation in the private sector is picking up, as some recent indicators have suggested.

The data could have a bearing on whether the Federal Reserve takes further action to stimulate the U.S. economy — a move likely to lower long-term interest rates.