European Shares Seen Opening On Cautious Note

European stocks are seen opening a tad lower on Tuesday as commodity prices remain firmly underpinned, raising concerns about inflation and economic growth.

Asian markets were broadly lower after the third round of peace talks between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators failed to achieve significant results in Belarus on Monday.

The talks will continue, but Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that Ukraine must agree to his demands for the conflict to end.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. said it will remove Russian bonds from all of its widely-tracked indexes. Rating firm Fitch also suspended its commercial operations in Russia.

Oil pushed past $121 a barrel amid fears of more penalties against Russia. A top Russian official has warned that a Western ban on Russian oil imports could result in oil prices more than doubling to about $300 per barrel and prompt the closure of the main gas pipeline from Russia to Germany.

Nickel extended a record-breaking rally and the price of everything from natural gas to wheat has hit all-time highs on concerns about supply disruptions, raising worries about stagflation – a combination of slow economic growth and high inflation.

The U.S. dollar held firm near a multi-month peak and gold slid from the key $2,000-per-ounce mark, while Bitcoin was trading around 2 percent higher as investors await U.S. President Joe Biden’s executive order outlining his administration’s strategy for the cryptocurrency sector.

U.S. stocks fell for a third straight session overnight amid heightening economic risks from the Ukraine crisis.

The Dow dropped 2.4 percent and the S&P 500 shed 3 percent to eleven and eight-month closing lows, respectively while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite tumbled 3.6 percent to end at its lowest level in a year.

European stocks hit one-year lows on Monday as Western countries mulled a Russian oil import ban.

The pan European Stoxx 600 gave up 1.1 percent. The German DAX lost 2 percent, France’s CAC 40 index fell 1.3 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 eased 0.4 percent.