Gains in world share markets stalled on Monday after an August rally as investors await the next moves from major central banks to tackle the euro zone crisis and boost slowing global growth.
However, U.S. stock index futures pointed to a rise on Wall Street, with Apple likely to hit a new high after the iPhone maker won a court battle over patents with South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co Ltd.
Worries about the state of the global economy and how soon policymakers will respond were centre stage after a survey of around 7,000 German firms showed Europe's fiscal crisis and a slowdown in China were taking a toll on the region's biggest economy.
"The euro crisis is gnawing away at German growth," said Klaus Wohlrabe, an economist for the Ifo Institute, which compiled the survey that found a majority of firms rated their export prospects as "negative".
"It looks as if the German economy will, at best, be treading water in the coming months," Carsten Brzeski, senior economist at ING said.
The euro edged up 0.1 percent to $1.2520 after the Ifo survey was released but was holding below a peak of $1.2590 set last Thursday.
A market holiday in London thinned some stock trading. MSCI's world equity index was steady at around 324.27 points by Europe's midsession following five weeks of gains on expectations that major central banks would soon act to tackle the slowing global economy.
This view got a boost on Monday from Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans who said, in remarks prepared for delivery in Hong Kong, that the Fed should start a new round of monetary stimulus immediately, buying bonds for as long as it takes to produce a steady decline in the jobless rate.
The euro zone's blue chip Euro STOXX 50 index index was up 0.4 percent at 2,443.91 points following the comments, reversing losses seen after the Ifo survey.
TIGHT RANGES SEEN
However, risk assets such as equities were expected to stay in a tight range this week as investors watch for clues on the next steps to tackle the euro zone's debt crisis, and wait to see what emerges from a gathering of central bankers at Jackson Hole, Wyoming on Friday.
European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi signalled earlier this month the bank may start buying government debt to reduce crippling Spanish and Italian borrowing costs, comments that fuelled a broad-based upturn in sentiment on global markets.
However, over the weekend German Bundesbank chief Jens Weidmann likened the ECB's bond-buying plans to a dangerous drug, pointing to growing unease over the policy.
Markets have also been unsettled by rising talk of a Greek exit from the euro zone which has bubbled up again in recent days.
With the ECB's next policy meeting not until Sept. 6, attention is now on Friday's central bankers' meeting, and a speech that day by U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.
Talk of a more accommodative monetary stance from the Fed has grown since data showed the United States is struggling due to the euro zone crisis and a slowing Chinese economy.
The speculation has helped the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares rise by about 7 percent in August, while the S&P 500 index is up around 2.3 percent.
On Monday, gold was at its highest levels since mid-April, at around $1,676.45 an ounce, due to the strength of the view that a further monetary easing from the Fed is imminent.
Oil has also risen sharply, with Brent climbing above $115 per barrel on Monday, although it was also given a lift from supply concerns as Tropical Storm Isaac threatened to interrupt most U.S. offshore oil production in the Gulf of Mexico.
