European Shares Seen Tad Higher At Open

European stocks look set to open a tad higher on Tuesday as investors look ahead to the release of key U.S. inflation and other macroeconomic indicators this week ahead of the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate decision due September 20.

The Federal Reserve is likely to pause its recent series of rate hikes next week but the outlook for November remains a little more uncertain, with the FedWatch Tool currently indicating a 42.6 percent chance of another quarter point rate hike.

The European Central Bank (ECB) is scheduled to announce its interest rate decision on Thursday.

The ECB is expected to hike all three policy rates by 25 basis points, citing a weaker growth outlook and no clear evidence of a peak in core inflation. Few economists, however, predict it will be a close call.

Asian stocks traded mixed despite China’s largest private property developer Country Garden winning approval from creditors to extend repayments on six onshore bonds by three years.

The dollar steadied close to a six-month peak in Asian trade and gold was little changed while oil prices held near 10-month highs ahead of inventory reports and the release of an OPEC monthly report.

In economic releases, unemployment data from the U.K. and economic sentiment survey results from Germany are due later in the day.

The U.K. ILO jobless rate is forecast to rise to 4.3 percent in three months to July from 4.2 percent in the preceding period.

Germany’s ZEW economic sentiment index is forecast to fall to -15.0 from -12.3 in August.

U.S. stocks rose overnight, and the dollar fell by the most in two weeks as signs of easing inflation and comments from Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen boosted hopes that the U.S. economy is headed toward a soft landing.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite surged 1.1 percent after Tesla received a bullish upgrade from Morgan Stanley. The S&P 500 gained 0.7 percent and the Dow rose 0.3 percent.

European stocks closed higher for a second day running on Monday ahead of a busy week of economic data releases and the ECB meeting.

The pan European STOXX 600 closed up 0.3 percent. The German DAX edged up 0.4 percent, France’s CAC 40 added half a percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 inched up 0.3 percent.