European stocks may open broadly higher on Wednesday amid further assurances from Fed officials that rising inflation is largely due to transitory factors.
The dollar wallowed near its weakest since early January against major peers and the yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes hovered at 1.5723 percent after Chicago Fed President Charles Evans said the recent strong U.S. inflation readings are not the start of a steady move higher in consumer prices.
“Right now, policy is in a very good place and we need to be patient,” San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly told CNBC.
Fed Vice Chair Richard Clarida said that he is not expecting a scenario where an overheating economy leads to runaway inflation.
On the COVID-19 front, the coronavirus variant first detected in India has now been officially recorded in 53 territories, a World Health Organization report showed.
Asian stocks advanced and spot gold rose above $1,900 per ounce on dollar weakness, while oil edged down slightly as investors weighed the impact from possible return of Iranian oil to the market.
Business and consumer confidence survey results are due from France later today, headlining a light day for the European economic news.
Across the Atlantic, traders are likely to look ahead to the second release of the first quarter U.S. gross domestic product data due Thursday and Friday’s closely-watched inflation data for more clues on the economic recovery and the outlook for monetary policy.
Overnight, U.S. stocks fluctuated before ending slightly lower, as disappointing consumer confidence and housing sales readings dented sentiment.
The Dow and the S&P 500 slipped around 0.2 percent while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite finished marginally lower.
European stocks ended mixed on Tuesday after reaching record highs earlier in the session. The pan European Stoxx 600 ended flat with a positive bias.
The German DAX edged up 0.2 percent to a new high, while France’s CAC 40 index and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 both shed around 0.3 percent.
European Shares Seen Up After Fed Inflation Comments
2021-05-26 05:40:06
