The Irish index of shares was slipped this morning as early gains reversed to a slight loss.
The Iseq climbed on opening, rising more than 7 points by 8.22 before falling back to a loss of just under one point at 9.27am.
Aer Lingus made early gains on the back of increased traffic figures at the airline, which showed passenger numbers had risen 8.2 per cent in July. By 8.30am, the share price was trading half a cent up at ust over 48 cent per share.
Rival airline Ryanair also saw its share price rise, with a 1.2 per cent gain to €3.25.
Meanwhile, Providence shares climbed 5 per cent in early trade, reaching 4 cent a share. the company announced this morning that Italian energy firm Eni was taking a 40 per cent stake in its Dunquin licence, located off the west coast of Ireland, and had begun to farm into it.
Caren Crowley, analyst with Davy Stockbrokers, said the deal was good news for Providence.
"The deal gives further third-party validation on Dunquin and brings Providence into partnership with another major oil and gas company."
While financials were mainly flat this morning, AIB saw a slight loss, dropping 0.9 per cent by 8.30 am and losing 2 cent to €2.10.
The Iseq's slip was mirrored elsewhere, with European stocks down after a strong performance last week following better-than-expected US jobs data. Tokyo shares, however, hit a 10-month closing high.
Investors are reluctant to add significant risk to their portfolio after a broad-based rally on Friday following the US jobs report for July, which gave a clear indication that the economy is turning around from a deep recession.
They are also waiting for the outcome of the Federal Reserve' monetary policy meeting later in the week.
After the US unemployment rate fell in July for the first time in 15 months, bets on the central bank raising interest rates from 0-0.25 per cent by the year-end increased to as high as a 46 per cent chance from 34 per cent shortly before the data.
"We had a big move on Friday, so we'll be seeing some consolidation today," said Martin McMahon, currency strategist at Credit Suisse in Frankfurt.
"The Fed is the big question later in the week ... Do they extend their buy-back programme or not? If they do, there could be a potentially big impact on the dollar (downwards), and if they don't, it could go the other way."
MSCI world equity index was up 0.1 per cent, after hitting its highest level since October on Friday. The benchmark index has climbed for four weeks in a row, rising 1.7 per cent the previous week, and is up 19 per cent since the start of the year.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index fell 0.4 per cent, dragged lower by auto and basic resource shares.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei average hit its highest close in 10 months. Japan's machinery orders, a leading indicator of capital spending, rose in June for the first time in four months.
Emerging stocks rose 0.5 per cent.
The dollar was down 0.15 per cent against a basket of major currencies. The US currency fell 0.3 per cent to 97.34 yen.
The dollar has tended to fall after upbeat economic data, although that dynamic could be changing as the market speculates that interest rates could rise sooner than expected.
US crude oil rose a quarter percent to $71.09 a barrel.
The September Bund future was steady with investors bracing for hefty US and euro zone issuance this week skewed towards 10-year maturities.
The US Treasury will auction $75 billion in new government bonds while Germany is due to issue €6 billion of the benchmark 10-year paper on Wednesday.
Additional reporting: Reuters