European stocks set to nudge higher, tracking global sentiment as dollar weakens

Key Points

• The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was hovering below 101.5 on Monday morning as bets on persistent aggressive rate hikes from the Fed subsided.
• Markets in the U.S. are closed Monday for the Memorial Day holiday, after the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average snapped losing streaks to post their strongest week since November 2020.

LONDON — European stocks are set for a modestly higher open on Monday as the U.S. dollar weakens, with traders easing expectations of aggressive monetary tightening from the Federal Reserve.

Britain’s FTSE 100 is seen around 26 points higher at 7,611, Germany’s DAX is expected to add around 85 points to 14,547 and France’s CAC 40 is set to climb around 34 points to 6,550.

Shares in Asia-Pacific rose sharply across the board on Monday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 adding 2.3% to lead gains ahead of a big week of economic data releases for the region.

Sentiment was boosted by a relaxation of Covid controls over the weekend in the major Chinese cities of Beijing and Shanghai.

Markets in the U.S. are closed Monday for the Memorial Day holiday, after the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average snapped losing streaks to post their strongest week since November 2020.

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The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was hovering below 101.5 on Monday morning. The index earlier notched a five-week low as fears of further aggressive interest rate hikes from the Fed, beyond those expected in June and July, eased over the past week.

Earnings in Europe on Monday are set to come from S4 Capital, while data releases will include Spanish and German preliminary inflation prints for May, along with euro area economic sentiment and consumer confidence surveys.

Source : CNBC