European stocks are likely to open on a positive note Wednesday as investors await the minutes from Fed’s July meeting, due to be released later in the day, for any clues on taper plans.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell said at a town hall meeting on Tuesday that it remains to be seen how the U.S. economy will weather the recent COVID-19 surge.
Separately, Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari said there still is “a lot of slack” in the U.S. labor market and high inflation readings will subside as workers return to the labor force.
Asian markets rose broadly, though the upside remained limited as investors assessed the risks from the resurgent coronavirus.
Treasuries were little changed while spot gold steadied, after having hit its highest since Aug. 6 at $1,795.25 on Tuesday.
The dollar hit a nine-month high against the euro and held near recent peaks on other majors.
Oil edged higher after four days of losses on fuel demand concerns amid surging COVID-19 cases worldwide.
U.S. stocks pulled back from record highs overnight as retail sales and homebuilder confidence figures disappointed and Home Depot reported weaker than expected same-store sales growth.
The Dow shed 0.8 percent and the S&P 500 gave up 0.7 percent to snap five-day winning streaks, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite declined 0.9 percent.
European stocks ended mixed on Tuesday as authorities in Beijing ramped up their crackdown on some of the nation’s largest companies and the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan.
The pan European Stoxx 600 ended flat with a positive bias. The German DAX finished marginally lower and France’s CAC 40 index slipped 0.3 percent, while the U.K.’s FTSE 100 rose 0.4 percent after the headline unemployment rate for Q2 came in slightly lower than forecast.
Market Analysis
European Shares Seen Up Ahead Of FOMC Minutes
2021-08-18 05:41:34
