European Shares May See Modest Gains At Open

(RTTNews) - European shares may see cautious gains at open on Tuesday as investors look ahead to the release of preliminary inflation prints France, Spain, Germany, Italy and the euro zone due this week for clues on the path of future rate hikes this year.

The European Central Bank intends to raise rates by another 50 basis points in March but there is uncertainty about subsequent steps after March.

Across the Atlantic, reports on consumer confidence and Chicago-area business activity may attract attention later today.

Asian markets were seeing modest gains ahead of the release of the Caixin Manufacturing PMI data from China, which is scheduled for Wednesday.

The dollar pulled back while gold slipped on hawkish Fed bets. U.S. Fed Governor Philip Jefferson said Monday that inflation for services in the United States remained "stubbornly high" and he was under "no illusion" that inflation would return quickly to the Fed's target.

Oil steadied but headed for a fourth straight monthly drop as investors await inventory data from the American Petroleum Institute and the Energy Information Administration.

U.S. stocks finished slightly higher overnight as investors sought bargains after steep losses last week.

The Dow inched up 0.2 percent, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.6 percent and the S&P 500 added 0.3 percent after the release of mixed readings on durable goods orders and pending home sales.

All the three indexes closed well off their session highs as Treasury yields moved off the day's lows on uncertainty about where the economy and interest rates are headed.

European markets rebounded on Monday after posting their steepest decline of 2023 last week.

The pan-European STOXX 600 closed 1.1 percent higher. The German DAX rallied 1.1 percent, France's CAC 40 index climbed 1.5 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 surged 0.7 percent.