European Markets Seen Opening On A Positive Note

(RTTNews) - Stock markets in Europe are expected to open on a positive note on Monday as investors return from the Christmas break. Geopolitical uncertainty as well as holiday-thinned trading is expected to sway sentiment.

Wall Street had closed on a mildly negative note on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged down 0.04 percent to finish trading at 48,710.97. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite edged down 0.09 percent to close trading at 23,593.10.

European markets had closed on a mixed note ahead of the Christmas holidays. Switzerland's SMI rallied 0.60 percent to close at 13,242.80 on Tuesday. Germany's DAX gained 0.23 percent to close Tuesday's trading at 24,340.06. The pan-European Stoxx-50 finished Tuesday's trading at 5,749.28, gaining 0.10 percent. France's CAC 40 finished Wednesday's trading on a flat note at 8,103.58. U.K.'s FTSE 100 erased 0.19 percent to close at 9,870.68 on Wednesday.

Current indications from the European stock futures indicate a mildly positive sentiment. The DAX Futures (Mar) is trading 0.16 percent higher. The FTSE 100 Futures (Mar) is trading 0.21 percent higher. The pan-European Stoxx 50 Futures (Mar) has also gained 0.23 percent.

American stock futures are trading in mildly negative territory. The US 30 (DJIA) is trading 0.02 percent lower, whereas the US500 (S&P 500) is trading 0.06 percent below the flatline.

Asian stock markets are trading on a mixed note. South Korea's KOSPI has rallied 1.7 percent. China's Shanghai Composite has gained 0.18 percent whereas Hong Kong's Hang Seng has edged down 0.04 percent. DJ New Zealand has declined 0.16 percent. India's Nifty 50 is trading 0.23 percent below the flatline. Australia's S&P ASX 200 has slipped 0.42 percent. Japan's Nikkei 225 dropped 0.51 percent.

The Dollar Index, a measure of the U.S. dollar's strength relative to six currencies, is trading at 98.06, edging up 0.04 percent from 98.02 at the previous close. The EUR/USD pair has in the meanwhile slipped 0.08 percent to 1.1762 and the GBP/USD pair has dropped 0.06 percent to trade at 1.3492. The USD/CHF pair is trading 0.04 percent higher at 0.7898. The EUR/GBP pair is trading 0.02 percent lower at 0.8719.

Gold Futures for February settlement are currently trading at $4,535.30, declining 0.38 percent from the previous close of $4,552.70. The yellow metal had touched an all-time high of $4,584 on Friday.

Both the crude oil benchmarks are trading well above the flatline as investors weighed a potential deal to end the war in Ukraine as well as the outcome of the talks between the U.S. and Ukrainian presidents. Brent Crude Futures for March settlement are trading 1 percent higher at $60.85 versus $60.24 at the previous close. WTI Crude Futures for February settlement is currently trading 1.1 percent higher at $57.34 versus $56.74 at the previous close.

No major economic data releases are due from the region on Monday except the update on unemployment benefit claims and job seekers for November due from France on Monday morning.