European stocks are set to open lower Monday morning as investors digest election results out of Germany, where the nationalist Alternative for Germany (AfD) won parliamentary seats for the first time.

The FTSE 100 is expected to open lower by 5 points at 7,300; the German DAX is seen down by 7 points at 12,589 and the CAC 40 in France is seen off by 3 points at 5,270.

Chancellor Angela Merkel won a fourth term in office on Sunday, but she is due to face tough political negotiations to form a new governing coalition. At the same time, she will also have to deal with a more fractured parliament after the anti-immigration; far-right AfD party beat expectations and became the first far-right party to join the Bundestag in more than half a century.

The euro fell about 0.4 percent against the dollar on the election outcome but recovered some losses overnight. The currency was trading at $1.1934 at 5.40 a.m. London time.

Meanwhile, Brexit negotiators are set to resume talks Monday in Brussels after U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May asked for a transition period after March 29, 2019 – when the U.K. officially leaves the European Union. However, during a speech in Florence last Friday, May failed to outline what the “new relationship” between the EU and the U.K. could look like. Without firm offers, the EU cannot negotiate a trade deal, let alone a transition deal, Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator said.

In the corporate world, Lufthansa is prepared to pay 200 million ($238.67 million) euros to buy assets from the insolvent AirBerlin, according to Reuters. Also, Deliveroo has raised $385 million in private funding as it aims to compete with Delivery Hero and Just Eat.

The German Ifo Business Climate for September is due at 9:00 a.m. London time. European Central Bank President Mario Draghi is due to speak at the European Parliament at 2:00 p.m. London time. In the U.K. the Bank of England Financial Policy Committee will make a press statement at 09:30 London time following its quarterly meeting.

In commodity markets, oil prices were slightly lower but holding near their higher levels in the past months. Brent was down by 0.12 percent at $56.79 and WTI was 0.3 percent lower at $50.51 at about 5:45 a.m. London time. This after a meeting of major producers in Vienna last Friday reiterated that the market was moving towards a rebalancing.

Source: cnbc
European markets seen lower on German election result; Brexit talks resume