By Johann M Cherian and Anastasiia Kozlova
(Reuters) -European shares slipped slightly on Monday, as investors avoided big bets ahead of a long-awaited jobs report from the U.S. that could offer clarity on the health of the world's largest economy.
The pan-European STOXX 600 wobbled between marginal gains and losses and was last down 0.17% at 573.95 points by 0923 GMT.
Worries that an imminent interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve is unlikely and that technology shares are overvalued had sparked
a global selloff last week; equities in Europe logged their biggest daily loss in over a month on Friday.
Risk appetite this week is likely to be tested by the September U.S. jobs report, due on Thursday, and an earnings report from global AI bellwether Nvidia
"There's a big chance for a lot of volatility in this data but at this stage I don't know quite what it's going to be able to tell us, but I do understand that it does make sense for the members of the Fed to prepare for big rates being on hold in December," said David Morrison, a senior market analyst at Trade Nation.
Morrison also said the quality of the data was uncertain since data collection was halted while the U.S. government was shut for over a month.
Financial stocks including banks and insurers weighed on the STOXX index on Monday, while luxury stocks such as UK's Burberry and France's LVMH fell, losing 4.6% and 1.5% respectively.
Among individual stocks, Saab secured a 3.1 billion euro contract with the Colombian government to supply 17 Gripen fighter jets over the next five years, boosting the Swedish defence company's shares by 6.6%. The broader defence sector gained 1.2%.
British advertising giant WPP's shares rose 2.2% after a report said it had attracted takeover interest from French rival Havas and some private equity firms.
Airbus climbed 1.5% after a Reuters report said the aircraft maker is poised to secure the bulk of a major flydubai order at the Dubai Airshow, challenging Boeing’s long-standing dominance with the Gulf carrier.
(Reporting by Johann M Cherian in Bengaluru and Anastasiia Kozlova in Gdansk; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee and Sahal Muhammed)
