LONDON — Global stock markets traded in narrow ranges Monday as investors awaited a key meeting of central bankers later this week and continued to monitor developments on the Korean peninsula.

In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was steady at 7,326 while Germany's DAX fell 0.3 percent to 12,132. France's CAC 40 was 0.3 percent lower at 5,100. US stocks were poised for a similarly tepid opening with Dow futures and the broader S&P 500 futures unchanged.

On Monday, US and South Korean forces started their annual joint military exercises, which are taking place in the wake of heightened tension between the US and North Korea. Pyongyang has in the past responded to the drills with weapons tests and a string of belligerent rhetoric. Last year, North Korea test-fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile that flew about 500 kilometers (310 miles) in the longest flight by that type of weapon. Days after the drills, the North carried out its fifth and biggest nuclear test to date.

"Should North Korea respond in kind, then we could see a repeat of the safe haven rush from a couple of weeks ago when the situation previously flared up between the countries," said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at OANDA.

Central bank officials from around the world will be gathering for an annual three-day conference at a mountain resort in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, starting Thursday. Investors will be scrutinizing remarks from policymakers including Fed chief Janet Yellen and European Central Bank head Mario Draghi for any hints on the future direction of interest rates and economic stimulus programs, which will have implications for global stock markets.

French oil company Total agreed Monday to buy Danish conglomerate AP Moller-Maersk's oil business for $7.45 billion, in a deal that will strengthen its position in the North Sea. Investors in AP Moller-Maersk, which is restructuring to become an integrated transport and logistics company, cheered the deal, with the company's share price up 4 percent at 13,260 Danish kroner on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange. Total's share price in Paris, however, was unchanged at 42.58 euros. — AP