stock moves, earnings and the latest data releases

LONDON — European stocks closed flat on the first trading day in September as investors considered the outlook for markets.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed 0.04% lower, with regional bourses and sectors diverging. Retail stocks ended 0.77% lower, while telecoms added 0.78%.

Shares in real estate listings company Rightmove closed up 27% higher after its Australian rival REA Group said it was considering making an offer for for the U.K.-based platform.

On the data front, a series of final readings of manufacturing PMIs from across Europe were released Monday. This included euro zone manufacturing activity, which remained firmly in contractive territory, coming in at 45.8 in August as it was weighed down by Germany and France, the report from the Hamburg Commercial Bank and S&P Global showed.

Elsewhere, the U.K. manufacturing PMI increased to a 26-month high of 52.5 in August, which is in expansion territory, according to the report by S&P Global.

Regional markets closed higher last Friday, the last trading day of August, as investors considered inflation data from around the world and expectations rise that the U.S. Federal Reserve will begin interest rate cuts in September.

Data released last week showed the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, the personal consumption expenditures price index, rose 0.2% on a monthly basis in July and 2.5% from a year ago. The result was in line with estimates from economists polled by Dow Jones. Excluding food and energy, it also rose 0.2% from the prior month. The data is likely to influence policymakers’ rate decision in September.

Asia-Pacific markets fell overnight as investors assessed China’s business activity numbers released over the weekend. China’s official purchasing managers’ index data for August saw the manufacturing PMI fall to a six-month low of 49.1, a faster contraction than the 49.4 seen in July.

U.S. markets are closed on Monday for the Labor Day public holiday.