European stocks started trading higher on Monday as investors looked ahead to a week of important economic data from the US and Europe.

The STOXX Europe 600 index rose 0.4 percent.

The oil and gas sector rose about 1 percent

Oil prices were little changed in early Asian trading on Monday, holding on to most of last weeks more than 3% gains, supported by geopolitical tensions and better economic data.

Brent crude futures fell 7 cents, or 0.09%, to $79.59

The US Treasury Department has announced that the government recorded a budget deficit on an annual basis of $244 billion last July, an increase of 10 percent compared to the same month last year.

The Department explained, in a statement

Doha: The Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) index closed Monday’s trading gaining 16.2 points, or 0.16 percent, reaching 10,093.52 points.

During the session, 99,477,118 shares were traded, with a total value of QR 254,992,086.784, resulting from the execut…