European Shares Seen Up Ahead Of Key Central Bank Meetings

(RTTNews) - European stocks are seen opening higher on Tuesday as trading resumes after a long holiday weekend.

As inflation concerns ease, traders await additional cues from major central bank meetings this week.

The U.S. Federal Reserve is expected to raise its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points on Wednesday despite signs of an impending slowdown.

Fed chief Jerome Powell's post-decision press conference will be closely watched for comments around the future of monetary policy.

The Labour Department's closely watched monthly jobs report due on Friday also remains on investors' radar.

The European Central Bank (ECB) is widely expected to raise rates for a seventh straight meeting on Thursday and the big question is whether it will be a 25 or 50 bps rate hike.

Asian markets traded mixed as weak manufacturing data stoked worries about China's economic recovery. Signs of stress in the property sector also weighed after KWG Group Holdings became the latest Chinese developer to default.

Gold was little changed and the dollar fell slightly as the debt ceiling deadline loomed.

President Joe Biden has invited the "big four" congressional leaders to a May 9 meeting at the White House to discuss the debt limit.

The U.S. could fail to meet its debt obligations sooner than expected, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned in a letter to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

Oil prices were little changed in thin trade on demand worries.

U.S. stocks ended slightly lower overnight as regulators seized First Republic Bank and sold all of its deposits and most of its assets to JPMorgan Chase.

On the economic front, a measure of U.S. manufacturing contracted for the sixth consecutive month in April but pulled off a three-year low as new orders improved slightly and employment rebounded.

The Dow and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite both slipped around 0.1 percent, while the S&P 500 finished marginally lower.

In Europe, most markets were closed on Monday.