European Shares Seen Opening Up On Russia-Ukraine Hopes

(RTTNews) - European stocks are seen opening a tad higher on Monday as hope prevails for a swift resolution to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

While the Trump-Putin Alaska summit ended without a deal, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that a temporary ceasefire agreement between Ukraine and Russia is "not off the table."

U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday claimed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky could end the war by ceding the Crimea region to Russia and dropping Ukraine's bid to join the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance.

Trump is now set to meet a host of European leaders and Zelensky at the White House, with reports suggesting that Washington and its European allies could offer Ukraine a NATO-style security guarantee as part of a potential peace deal.

In economic news, U.S. housing data and remarks by central bank officials at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium will be in the spotlight as the week progresses.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's speech will be watched closely for guidance on a September interest-rate cut.

Fed funds futures currently price in a nearly 85 percent likelihood that the central bank cuts rates at its next policy meeting in September, according to CME's FedWatch tool.

On the earnings front, big-box retailers, including Home Depot, Lowe's, Walmart and Target are among the prominent companies that will unveil their results over the course of the week.

Asian markets were mostly higher, with Seoul stocks underperforming amid uncertainties over Trump's potential tariff measures on semiconductors.

Gold prices climbed as the dollar dithered on dovish Fed expectations.

Oil prices were steady as the Alaska summit ended without any geopolitical escalation, easing concerns of supply disruption.

U.S. stocks ended mostly lower on Friday after a strong week. The S&P 500 eased 0.3 percent but logged its second weekly gain. The Dow inched up marginally as retail sales demonstrated resilience in July.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite shed 0.4 percent on the back of a decline in chip stocks and weak consumer sentiment data, primarily driven by increasing concerns about inflation on lingering anxiety about the impact of tariffs.

European stocks turned in a mixed performance on Friday ahead of the Trump-Putin summit. The pan European STOXX 600 ended flat with a negative bias.

France's CAC 40 climbed 0.7 percent, but the German DAX finished marginally lower and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 dipped 0.4 percent.