European stocks are seen opening on a subdued note Thursday as traders await more clues about the regulatory outlook in China as well as the Fed’s Jackson Hole meeting.
Asian markets fell broadly and the dollar hovered near a one-week low versus major peers as investors looked ahead to the Jackson Hole Symposium, which begins today.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell is scheduled to speak at the convention on Friday and it is expected that he would present a timeline for tapering the central bank’s bond-buying program.
Upcoming U.S. jobless claims and second-quarter GDP figures could also offer some trading impetus.
Earlier today, the Bank of Korea raised its base interest rate, making the nation the first major Asian economy to start exiting record-low borrowing costs.
Oil prices dipped for the first time in four sessions as fresh outbreaks fueled by the Delta variant of the coronavirus raised concerns about the strength of the economic recovery globally. Gold fell below $1,800 while Bitcoin traded around $49,000.
U.S. stocks closed higher overnight amid continued optimism about growth after Dr. Anthony Fauci, top U.S. infectious disease expert, said COVID-19 could be under control by early next year.
Orders for long-lasting goods fell in July due to weakness in transport-related goods, but demand was strong in other parts of the economy, official data showed.
The S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite both edged up around 0.2 percent to reach fresh record highs while the Dow inched up 0.1 percent.
European stocks ended mostly higher on Wednesday as travel stocks extended gains for the fourth day running. The pan European Stoxx 600 ended flat with a positive bias.
The German DAX eased 0.3 percent after the release of weak business sentiment data, while France’s CAC 40 index gained 0.2 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 added 0.3 percent.
European Shares Stare At Cautious Start
2021-08-26 05:33:43
