Commodity prices offset earnings jitters, European markets remain flat.

On Monday, European markets started the week practically flat as rising commodity prices boosted oil and mining sectors, but fears about inflation and the forthcoming earnings season dampened confidence.

In early trade, the Pan-European STOXX 600 index fell 0.02 percent, with travel & leisure plunging the most. Gains in banking and commodity-linked companies like energy and mining, on the other hand, helped minimize losses.

Brent crude rose more than 1% to $83.59 a barrel as the global energy crisis continued to worsen, while Dalian coking coal hit a contract high as recent floods in China’s top coal-producing Shanxi region heightened supply concerns.

The stock of British online clothes retailer ASOS (LON: ASOS) fell 14.2 percent after the company warned that rising logistical costs and supply chain disruptions might cause profitability to fall by more than 40% by 2022, and announced that Chief Executive Nick Beighton will step down.

Story by : Norvisi Mawunyegah