European Shares Seen Opening Steady Ahead Of Powell Testimony

(RTTNews) - European stocks are seen opening on a steady note Tuesday as investors prepare for a Congressional testimony from Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

Powell will testify before the Senate Banking Committee today and the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday.

Investors remain worried over whether recent strong economic data will lead the Fed to get back to jumbo hikes.

Market participants also look ahead to the release of U.S. February jobs report on Friday for additional clues on the rate outlook.

Economists expect employment to increase by 200,000 jobs in February after an increase of 517,000 jobs in January. The unemployment rate is expected to hold at 3.4 percent.

Asian markets held largely steady in cautious trade while the dollar was subdued, helping lift base metals prices.

Australia's dollar and government bond yields slid after Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe said there were indications that inflation had peaked in the country.

Gold was unchanged while oil extended overnight gains as a shale executive projected America's most prolific basin will soon peak.

Overnight, U.S. stocks gave up early gains to end narrowly mixed, tracking a rebound in U.S. Treasury yields.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite finished 0.1 percent lower while the Dow and the S&P 500 managed to finish in positive territory.

European stocks also ended Monday's session on a mixed note on disappointment over Chinese growth targets.

The pan European STOXX 600 ended flat with a negative bias. The German DAX gained half a percent and France's CAC 40 index edged up 0.3 percent while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 eased 0.2 percent.