European Shares Likely To Open On Positive Note

(RTTNews) - European stocks are likely to open on a positive note Monday as investors await upcoming U.S. inflation data and speeches by Federal Reserve officials for additional clues to the Fed's rate trajectory.

U.S. reports on consumer and producer prices, retail sales and industrial production due later in the week may provide further insights into the health of the world's largest economy as the Presidency and Senate falls into Republican hands, presenting a clear path for Trump to enact any major policy changes.

Trump won a second term as president on a platform of steep import taxes, including tariffs as high as 60 percent on China. The focus is now on how quickly Trump will implement his fiscal and protectionist trade policies.

Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari indicated at the weekend that tariffs would hurt long-term inflation if global trade partners were to strike back.

According to CME Fedwatch, traders currently bet on a 65.9 percent chance for a 25-basis point rate cut in December, and a 34.1 percent chance that rates will remain unchanged.

Asian markets were broadly lower as China's $1.4 trillion debt swap stimulus fell short of expectations and the release of weak inflation data over the weekend spurred new concerns over the recovery in the world's second-largest economy.

The dollar rose against major peers, extending last week's gain ahead of speeches by a slew of Federal Reserve officials this week.

Gold dipped around half a percent in Asian trade on dollar strength. Oil extended losses after falling nearly 3 percent on Friday.

U.S. stocks reached new record closing highs on Friday and scored big weekly gains on expectations for improved GDP growth, deregulation and tax cuts under the Trump administration.

In economic releases, a measure of U.S. consumer sentiment hit a seven-month high in early November while one-year inflation expectations eased but long-term expectations rose marginally, separate set of data revealed.

The Dow rose 0.6 percent and the S&P 500 gained 0.4 percent to wrap up their best week in a year while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite finished marginally higher.

European stocks ended lower on Friday as investors continued to react to political upheaval in Germany and weighed Trump's proposed protectionist policies.

The pan European STOXX 600 dropped 0.7 percent. France's CAC 40 lost 1.2 percent, while the German DAX and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 both dipped around 0.8 percent.