European Shares Seen Tad Higher At Open

European stocks may open higher on Monday after Wall Street ended Friday with a broad rally, led by a jump in Netflix and Alphabet shares.

That said, volatility cannot be ruled out amid lingering concerns about a weakening U.S. economy and a possible surge in COVID-19 cases in China as the travel rush takes place around the Lunar New Year holiday period.

Asian stocks were broadly higher in thin trade, with markets in mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Seoul closed for Lunar New Year celebrations. The Chinese markets will remain shut for the whole week.

Gold ticked higher on dollar weakness after ECB governing council member Klaas Knot said interest rates would rise by 50 basis points in both February and March and continue climbing in the months after.

Oil edged lower in Asian trading after hitting the highest level since mid-November Friday on optimism over increased demand from China.

Euro area consumer confidence survey results and a speech by ECB President Christine Lagarde at an event may sway sentiment as the day progresses.

Across the Atlantic, traders are likely to keep an eye on the latest U.S. economic data, including reports on durable goods orders, fourth quarter GDP, new home sales and personal income and spending this week.

The U.S. earnings season kicks into high gear this week, with General Electric, Johnson & Johnson, Verizon, Microsoft, AT&T, Boeing, IBM Corp., Tesla, Intel and American Express among the prominent companies due to report their financial results.

U.S. stocks rose sharply on Friday, as streaming giant Netflix reported stronger than expected subscriber growth, Google parent Alphabet revealed a plan to cut 12,000 jobs globally and Fed officials Patrick Harker and Christopher Waller said they favor a 25-basis-point rate hike at the next meeting.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite jumped 2.7 percent and the S&P 500 added 1.9 percent to mark its first gain in four days while the Dow gained 1 percent.

European stocks closed higher on Friday amid optimism about Chinese economic growth and signs of cooling inflation.

The pan-European STOXX 600 gained 0.4 percent. The German DAX rose 0.8 percent, France’s CAC 40 index edged up 0.6 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 inched up 0.3 percent.

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