European Shares Seen Flat To Lower At Open

(RTTNews) - European stocks are seen opening flat to slightly lower on Wednesday, with Nvidia earnings and minutes from May's FOMC meeting likely to be in focus.

First-quarter earnings results from Nvidia are due after the U.S. closing bell, with investors waiting to see what China restrictions will mean for the AI chipmaker.

Major retailers, including Macy's, Dick's Sporting Goods and Abercrombie & Fitch are set to report before the market open.

Cybersecurity firm Okta beat fiscal first-quarter expectations on the top and bottom lines, but kept its guidance due to macroeconomic uncertainty, sending its shares down over 12 percent in extending trading hours.

Temu owner PDD Holdings reported first-quarter sales and earnings far below expectations, underscoring how Sino-U.S. trade tensions are taking a toll on its business.

On the economic front, traders will review the minutes from the Federal Reserve May meeting later in the day for fresh insight into how Fed officials are thinking through monetary policy at a time of greater macroeconomic uncertainty.

Asian markets were flat to slightly lower due to investor anxiety around the ballooning U.S. debt levels.

A slight retreat in the dollar and lower U.S. bond yields helped lift gold prices higher in Asian trade.

Oil traded about half a percent higher on concerns over potential new sanctions on Russia and stalled progress in U.S.-Iran nuclear talks.

U.S. stocks rose sharply overnight as President Trump agreed to delay a threatened 50 percent tariffs on imports from the European Union and data showed U.S. consumer confidence rebounded sharply in May after a prolonged decline.

The Dow jumped 1.8 percent and the S&P 500 rallied 2.1 percent to snap four-day losing streaks, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite soared 2.5 percent.

European stocks closed higher on Tuesday after the release of encouraging German consumer sentiment and French consumer inflation data.

The German DAX advanced 0.8 percent to reach a new record high after the German government said it will ramp up public investment to 110 billion euros ($125 billion) this year to revive a sluggish economy.

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 added 0.7 percent while France's CAC 40 finished marginally lower. The pan European STOXX 600 rose 0.3 percent, building on Monday's 1 percent rise.