European stocks may open higher on Monday as commodity prices stabilized after last week’s sell-off on concerns over rising cases of the Delta coronavirus variant and China’s crackdown on a wide range of businesses.
Asian markets climbed as Chinese technology stocks rebounded from a prolonged selloff and South Korea’s exports logged a double-digit growth for the first 20 days of August.
China had zero locally transmitted cases and 21 imported coronavirus infections on Aug. 22, the National Health Commission said in a statement, helping ease fears over the virus spread.
Treasury yields ticked up and the dollar dipped for the first time in six sessions as investors looked ahead to the Jackson Hole symposium Thursday for additional insights about the Fed’s taper talks.
There is growing support within the Fed to announce the tapering of bond purchases sometime between October and December in contrast to the European Central Bank which is under pressure to add more stimulus.
Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan on Friday said he might reconsider the need for an early start to tapering if the virus harms the economy.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen endorsed Jerome Powell for a second term as Fed chair, a move that could reduce uncertainty about the path for monetary policy.
It’s a busy day ahead on the Eurozone’s economic calendar, with preliminary private sector PMIs and Eurozone consumer sentiment figures for August likely to be in focus.
Across the Atlantic, preliminary private sector PMIs and the services PMI could sway sentiment.
Gold inched higher in Asian trade and oil rose nearly 2 percent to push past $63 a barrel as the dollar index moved away from the 9-1/2-month high hit last week.
Bitcoin climbed above $50,000 for the first time since mid-May crash as PayPal U.K. said it will allow customers in the U.K. to buy, sell and hold bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies starting this week.
U.S. stocks advanced on Friday despite COVID-19 concerns, the imminent tapering of Federal Reserve bond buying and an intensifying crackdown by Beijing on some of the nation’s industries.
The Dow rose 0.7 percent and the S&P 500 added 0.8 percent while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.2 percent.
European stocks ended higher on Friday as Marks & Spencer’s upbeat profit forecast lifted retailers.
The pan-European STOXX 600 added 0.3 percent, but still marked its worst week since February on worries about the pace of economic recovery due to surging coronavirus cases of the Delta variant.
The German DAX and France’s CAC 40 index both gained about 0.3 percent while the U.K.’s FTSE 100 rose 0.4 percent.
Business News
European Shares Seen Opening Higher
2021-08-23 05:34:17
