European Shares Seen Opening Lower Ahead Of Inflation Tests

(RTTNews) - European stocks may open on a cautious note Tuesday as investors await key inflation readings for directional cues.

Inflation reports from Germany, France and Spain along with the U.S. Federal Reserve's favored core measure of personal consumption expenditure prices are due on Thursday.

Eurozone inflation data follows on Friday, with the core figure seen slowing to the lowest since early 2022 at 2.9 percent.

Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank President Jeffrey Schmid said in a debut speech on Monday that the U.S. central bank is in no rush to cut interest rates.

Investors await speeches from Bank of England deputy Dave Ramsden and Riksbank Governor Erik Thedeen later in the day for further direction.

The dollar traded on the back foot while Japan's two-year bond yield climbed to the highest level in more than a decade, as hotter-than-expected Japanese inflation data supported the case for the Bank of Japan to exit its negative rate policy by April.

Asian markets were broadly lower while gold and oil held steady amid heightened Middle East tensions.

German consumer confidence numbers, ECB commentary and U.S. reports on consumer confidence and core durable goods orders will be under the spotlight later today.

U.S. stocks ended lower overnight as investors awaited key economic readings later in the week for clues on the rate outlook.

Earlier in the day, data showed sales of new U.S. single-family homes rose less than expected in January.

The Dow eased 0.2 percent, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slid 0.1 percent and the S&P 500 gave up 0.4 percent.

European stocks closed broadly lower on Monday as U.S. and Eurozone inflation data loomed.

The pan European STOXX 600 slipped 0.4 percent. France's CAC 40 shed half a percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 dipped 0.3 percent while the German DAX finished marginally higher.