European Shares Seen Up As Netflix Hits Q4 Subscriber Record

(RTTNews) - European stocks look set to open higher on Wednesday, with tech stocks likely to be in focus after Netflix said its subscriber count reached an all-time high in the fourth quarter.

Meanwhile, shares of Texas Instruments fell 4 percent in after-hours trading after the company issued weak first-quarter earnings and revenue guidance.

AT&T, Tesla and IBM are scheduled to unveil their earnings results later in the day.

In economic releases, flash U.S. manufacturing and services PMI for January may garner investor attention ahead of fourth quarter gross domestic product, due later in the week.

Asian markets traded mixed after reports emerged that China's securities regulators have asked some hedge fund managers to restrict short selling in its stock index futures market.

Also, China's National Press and Publication Administration (NPPA) website quietly retracted its page featuring the proposed online gaming restrictions as of Tuesday morning.

Looking ahead, the European Central Bank is expected to leave interest rates unchanged at Thursday's meeting, but policymakers are not quite ready to declare victory in the inflation battle.

The central bank's policy statement will be closely watched for signals on when the central bank will consider its first interest-rate cut.

Gold edged lower in Asian trading as the dollar held at a six-week high amid rate-cut uncertainty.

Oil extended declines from the previous session on uncertainty about the outlook for global oil demand.

U.S. stocks fluctuated before ending mixed overnight, the dollar index climbed, and Treasury yields rose, as investors reacted to a slew of earnings from several big-name companies and waited for key growth and inflation data due later in the week for clues on when the Fed will cut interest rates.

The S&P 500 rose 0.3 percent to reach a new record closing high and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 0.4 percent while the Dow slipped 0.3 percent.

European stocks retreated on Tuesday as investors waited for cues from the upcoming ECB meeting.

The pan European STOXX 600 eased 0.3 percent. The German DAX and France's CAC 40 both dipped around 0.3 percent while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 finished marginally lower.