European shares open lower ahead of action-packed week; Fed in focus

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Sept 16 (Reuters) - European shares started a data-packed week on a lower note as traders maintained a cautious stance ahead of a long-awaited monetary easing cycle by the U.S. Federal Reserve, with many leaning towards a bigger-than-expected rate reduction.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index was down 0.3%, as of 0710 GMT on Monday, with all major European markets lower and most of the sub-indexes trading in the red.

All eyes will be on the U.S. central bank on Wednesday for its rate decision, where money markets are currently penciling in a 60% chance of a 50-basis-point interest rate cut, and a total easing of 120 bps in 2024.

For the day, investors will monitor Italy's consumer prices data for August at 0800 GMT and euro zone's total trade balance in July at 0900 GMT to assess the health of the region's economy.

France's Rexel jumped 12.6% after the Paris-listed group on Sunday rebuffed an around $9.4 billion acquisition offer from billionaire Brad Jacobs-led QXO.

Shares of Nestle weighed on the benchmark index with a nearly 1% fall after Morgan Stanley cut the stock's rating to "underweight" and reduced its target price.

(Reporting by Shubham Batra in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)