European Shares Set For Lackluster Open

European stocks look set to open on a flat note Tuesday despite Chinese exports and imports figures for June coming above forecasts.

Exports advanced 32.2 percent year-on-year in June, bigger than the economists’ forecast of 23.1 percent, official data showed. Likewise, imports climbed 36.7 percent on a yearly basis, faster than the expected rate of 30 percent.

Additional data, including Q2 GDP and industrial production figures, will be released on Thursday.

Asian markets were seeing modest gains, though the Hang Seng index was up as much as 1.7 percent, driven by gains in tech firms.

Gold edged higher, the dollar weakened and U.S. Treasury yields hovered above five-month lows ahead of the release of U.S. inflation data that could indicate when asset tapering by the U.S. Federal Reserve is likely to begin.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will testify before the Senate Banking Committee on Wednesday and Thursday, where his comments will be closely monitored for any hints on the Fed’s asset tapering schedule.

U.S. corporate earnings also remain on investors’ radar, with several big-name companies including Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, PepsiCo, Bank of America, Citigroup and Delta Airlines due to report their results this week.

Oil edged up slightly in Asian trade after dipping for the first time in three days.

Overnight, the major U.S. averages rose between 0.2 percent and 0.4 percent to reach new record closing highs, with Tesla and banking stocks gaining ground ahead of the start of earnings season.

European stocks also climbed to a record high on Monday as bets that top U.S. banks will report strong second-quarter earnings helped offset worries about the spread of new coronavirus variants.

The pan European Stoxx 600 advanced 0.7 percent. The German DAX gained 0.7 percent, France’s CAC 40 index rose half a percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 inched up 0.1 percent.