European Shares Seen Higher At Open

European stocks look set to open on a positive note Wednesday, even as underlying sentiment may remain cautious amid fears of more economic pain from coronavirus lockdowns in some Asian countries.

Japan’s government is considering a state of emergency for Tokyo and Osaka as new Covid case numbers surge.

India is seeing a huge surge in Covid-19 cases, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting states to use lockdown as a last resort, and focus only on micro-containment zones.

Meanwhile, the European Medicines Agency said that blood clots should be listed as a “very rare” side effect of Johnson & Johnson’s coronavirus vaccine, and that the overall benefits of the shot still outweighed the risks.

The United States is expected to announce its decision on the single-shot J&J vaccine by Friday.

Asian markets fell broadly and crude prices extended declines from a one-month high on concerns that record coronavirus infections in India and the reinforcement of travel restrictions will act as a brake on the global economy.

Gold gained on a softer U.S. dollar and declining yields as focus shifts to Thursday’s ECB policy meeting.

Investors hope the meeting will give more clarity about the ECB’s stimulus plans once the bloc’s economic recovery takes hold.

Consumer and producer price figures from the U.K. are due later in the session, headlining a light day for the European economic news.

Across the Atlantic, trading may be impacted by reaction to the latest earnings news amid another quiet day on the economic front.

IBM shares climbed to hit a new 52-week high in extended-hours trade after the company beat top and bottom line estimates during the first quarter.

However, United Airlines Holdings posted a bigger-than-expected loss and Netflix reported a slowdown in subscriber growth.

U.S. stocks fell notably overnight as concerns over rising coronavirus cases around the world hit travel-related stocks.

The Dow slid 0.8 percent, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite shed 0.9 percent and the S&P 500 gave up 0.7 percent.

European markets fell sharply on Tuesday after hitting record highs a day earlier.

The pan European Stoxx 600 plummeted 1.9 percent. The German DAX tumbled 1.6 percent, France’s CAC 40 index lost 2.1 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 slumped 2 percent.

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