European Shares Seen Opening Up As China Data Beats Forecasts

(RTTNews) - European stocks may open on a positive note Monday, though the upside may remain capped ahead of a slew of central bank meetings due this week.

Asian markets traded mostly higher after Chinese retail sales and industrial output data beat expectations.

Industrial output posted an increase of 7.0 percent in the January to February period, compared with 5.0 percent growth forecast by economists.

Retail sales also topped forecasts to increase 5.5 percent during the period while fixed asset investment expanded 4.2 percent.

On the contrary, the real estate sector remained sluggish, with investment in real estate falling 9 percent in January-February compared to the same period a year earlier.

China's new bank loans dipped more than expected in February, spurring some optimism over possible stimulus measures.

Japan's Nikkei jumped more than 2 percent as a BOJ policy shift loomed.

The Bank of Japan is expected to put an end to its extremely dovish monetary policy at the end of a two-day policy meeting concluding on Tuesday.

Elsewhere, the Reserve Bank of Australia is widely expected to keep interest rates unchanged at the conclusion of a two-day meeting on Tuesday.

The Federal Open Market Committee is expected to announce no changes on Wednesday, but the policy statement and dot plots may offer some clarity on future interest rate moves.

The Swiss National Bank and the Bank of England are also scheduled to make their monetary policy announcements this week.

The day's economic calendar remains light, with Eurozone CPI data for February and U.S. housing market data for March likely to garner investor attention.

Gold was under pressure in Asian trading as the dollar held steady ahead of the FOMC meeting. Oil steadied after its biggest weekly advance in a month.

U.S. stocks ended lower on Friday while bond yields ticked higher as investors looked ahead to cues from upcoming central bank meetings.

On the data front, manufacturing output rebounded in February while consumer sentiment and inflation expectations held steady in March, separate reports revealed.

The New York Empire State Manufacturing Index sank to -20.9 in March 2024 from -2.4 in February.

The tech=heavy Nasdaq Composite shed 1 percent and the S&P 500 gave up 0.7 percent to extend losses for the third day running while the Dow dropped half a percent.

European stocks closed lower on Friday amid inflation and interest-rate concerns. The pan European STOXX 600 declined 0.3 percent.

The German DAX finished marginally lower and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 eased 0.2 percent while France's CAC 40 ended with a positive bias.