European stocks closed lower Monday, dragged down in part by falls for consumer products heavyweight Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC and German automobile maker Daimler AG. Traders confronted a scarcity of catalysts in what was a relatively quiet day, with equity markets in the U.S. and China closed for holidays.
U.S. stock futures were trading lower on Monday, reversing Friday's mostly upbeat action, though analysts warned against reading too much into the moves, given traders are off for Presidents Day. American stock markets and the bond market are closed for the holiday, and there are no economic releases expected, as federal agencies are shuttered.
Asian stocks were largely lower Tuesday, though Hong Kong equities rebounded from early weakness following the Lunar New Year holiday. The Hang Seng Index HSI, -0.30% slipped 0.3%, after earlier dropping as much as 1.3% when big financial stocks, particularly China-based companies, experienced weakness. Index heavyweights Tencent 0700, +0.63% and HSBC HSBC, +0.15% each rose nearly 1%.