European Shares Seen Up In Cautious Trade

European stocks may open higher on Tuesday as investors look past the potential economic impact of the spreading coronavirus to focus on Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s semi-annual testimony this week for cues on the economy and monetary policy.

Powell is slated to testify before the House Financial Services Committee today and the Senate Banking committee on Wednesday.

Asian markets remain mostly higher, with Chinese stocks logging their sixth day of gains as traders seemed reassured by Chinese President Xi Jinping’s pledge to win the fight against the coronavirus outbreak.

Jinping said in remarks on state television that China will speed up the development of drugs aimed at treating the deadly pneumonia-like virus.

Markets in Japan are closed for a holiday. China’s yuan inched up against the dollar for a second straight session after authorities said they will roll out measures to stabilize jobs.

President Xi Jinping said the government would prevent large-scale layoffs caused by the virus outbreak – which has killed more than a 1,000 people in mainland China and infected over 40,000.

The dollar advanced against the yen while oil prices bounced back from the lowest in more than a year.

Overnight, U.S. stocks recovered from an early slide to close higher as signs of strength in the domestic economy helped investors shrug off coronavirus concerns.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.6 percent, while the S&P 500 gained 0.7 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite surged 1.1 percent to end the session at fresh record highs.

European markets ended Monday’s session on a mixed note after a surprisingly strong showing for the Sinn Féin party in Ireland’s general election.

The pan European Stoxx 600 edged up 0.1 percent. The German DAX and France’s CAC 40 index both slid 0.2 percent while the U.K.’s FTSE 100 shed 0.3 percent.

Source: Read Full Article