European Shares May Follow Wall Street Higher On Rate Cut Optimism
(RTTNews) - European stocks may open higher on Tuesday after U.S. markets notched third consecutive day of gains overnight on the back of better-than-expected corporate earnings and rate-cut optimism.
Asian stocks traded mostly higher as investors cheered robust tourism data from China for the Labour Day holiday period and easing housing market restrictions, with Shenzhen and Wuhan further easing home purchase restrictions to boost sales.
The Aussie dollar held close to a two-month high versus its U.S. counterpart as the Reserve Bank of Australia kept interest rates unchanged and warned that inflation was easing at a slower pace than it expected.
The yen continued to drift lower against the dollar despite fresh warnings from Japanese authorities on excessive yen moves.
Gold edged lower after demonstrating resilience in the previous trading session.
Fed Bank of Richmond President Thomas Barkin said Monday that he feels the risks are weighted towards more inflation.
His New York counterpart John Williams said that the timing of rate cuts will depend on the totality of the incoming data.
Oil extended overnight gains after Israel carried out night air strikes on Rafah and said a ceasefire proposal accepted by Hamas fell "far from Israel's necessary requirement".
In economic releases, Eurozone retail sales numbers, factory orders data from Germany and U.K. house price figures may garner investor attention later in the day.
Across the Atlantic, it's another quiet day on the economic front.
On the earnings front, financial results from media giant Walt Disney Company and oil and gas majors Duke Energy Corporation and Occidental Petroleum Corporation are awaited later in the day.
U.S. stocks rose overnight amid solid first-quarter earnings reports and hopes for interest rate cuts before the end of the year.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite surged 1.2 percent and the S&P 500 added 1 percent while the Dow inched up half a percent to post its fourth consecutive daily gain.
European stocks posted solid gains on Monday as new data showed improvement in Eurozone investor confidence and an acceleration in private sector growth.
The pan European STOXX 600 gained half a percent. The German DAX climbed 1 percent and France's CAC 40 rose half a percent while the U.K. markets were closed for a bank holiday.