The FTSEurofirst 300 index was down 0.2 percent at 1,061.93 points. On Friday, U.S. stock index futures trimmed losses. The Nikkei rose 0.7 percent or 74.42 points to 10,982.10. The Topix gained 0.8 percent to 966.40.

Yesterday, a leading US watchdog stated that regulators failed to protect the American public from the global financial crisis. Sheila Bair (the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation chairwoman) told the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission that regulators acted too slowly to stop the problems with sub-prime mortgage crisis. Despite a weak performance in December, US retail sales are now starting to show improvements. Yesterday, fresh data showed sales for last month falling 0.3 %, but this was compared to an upwardly-revised 1.8 % in November.

Due for release today is the USD Core CPI m/m, CPI m/m, USD Prelim UoM Consumer Sentiment, USD Industrial Production m/m.

By Greg Secker