By Riva Gold 

Stocks in Europe and the U.S. were little changed early Monday, as investors paused after closing out another month of gains.

The Stoxx Europe 600 inched up 0.2% halfway through the session, led by shares of auto makers. Trading in Europe was quiet, with markets in the U.K. and Ireland closed for a holiday.

Futures pointed to a 0.3% opening gain for the S&P 500. Changes in futures don't necessarily reflect market moves after the opening bell.

Wall Street ended lower Friday as a selloff in tech shares deepened, but the Dow Jones Industrial Average still managed to post a third consecutive month of gains, spurred by rising oil prices and a softer stance on interest rates from the U.S. Federal Reserve.

"U.S. monetary policy is right at the heart of everything," said Simon Derrick, chief currency strategist at BNY Mellon. Recent gains in the oil price and equity markets are closely linked to the Federal Reserve's signals on rates, he said.

Trading in Asia was mostly quiet, with markets in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore closed for a holiday.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average, however, fell 3.1% as the market reopened from a holiday, hit by a recent appreciation of the yen and continued disappointment over the Bank of Japan's decision to leave monetary policy unchanged Thursday.

The dollar was last up 0.2% at Yen106.59 after ending Friday at its lowest level against the yen since October 2014.

Investors around the world also focused on Monday on fresh readings of the global manufacturing sector. Chinese factory activity in China edged down in April, an official gauge showed, signaling a modest weakening of momentum for the world's second-largest economy.

Meanwhile, a final purchasing managers index for the eurozone's manufacturing sector was revised upward to 51.7 from 51.5, pointing to a modest pickup in activity.

Later in the day, the Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index will show whether U.S. manufacturers are sustaining recent gains, after factory-sector activity expanded in March for the first time since the summer.

"Economic growth is back at the forefront," said Jim McDonald, chief investment strategist for Northern Trust in Chicago. "The rally has hit a soft patch, because we've gotten a package of softer data out of the U.S.," he said.

In commodities, Brent crude oil fell 0.3% in choppy trade to $47.23 a barrel following bearish production data from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Gold prices were up 0.9% at $1302, close to a 15-month high.

Write to Riva Gold at riva.gold@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 02, 2016 08:13 ET (12:13 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.