European Shares Seen Opening Up Ahead Of US CPI Data, Fed Decision

(RTTNews) - European stocks may open on a positive note Tuesday as investors look ahead to the release of U.S. CPI data later in the day and the widely anticipated Fed decision on Wednesday.

The Fed is widely expected to pause its recent interest rate increases but may reiterate its commitment to bring inflation down to its 2 percent target.

The accompanying policy statement may offer insights as to whether there is a chance of another quarter point rate hike next month.

Elsewhere, China's central bank lowered a short-term lending rate for the first time in 10 months earlier today.

The European Central Bank announces its rate decision on Thursday, with a 25-basis points hike expected.

The Bank of Japan is likely to maintain its ultra-dovish stance and yield control settings when its meets on Friday.

The European economic calendar remains light, with unemployment data from the U.K. and economic confidence figures from Germany awaited later in the day.

Asian markets traded mostly higher, with tech stocks rallying after a Wall Street Journal report said that the U.S. will let semiconductor manufacturers from South Korea and Taiwan to continue and expand their chip-making operations in China.

Investors also braced for a raft of Chinese data to be released later this week including reports on new yuan loans, investment, industrial production, urban investment and house prices.

Gold edged higher on dollar weakness while oil prices recovered some ground, after having fallen over 4 percent overnight on fuel demand concerns.

U.S. stocks advanced overnight as investors braced for CPI data and the Federal Reserve policy decision.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 gained 1.5 percent and 0.9 percent respectively to reach their best closing levels in over a year while the Dow rose 0.6 percent.

European stocks also closed higher on Monday ahead of a busy week of central bank meetings.

The pan European STOXX 600 edged up 0.2 percent. The German DAX climbed 0.9 percent, France's CAC 40 added half a percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 inched up 0.1 percent.