European Shares Poised For Steady Start Ahead Of Powell's Speech

(RTTNews) - European stocks are seen opening higher on Wednesday amid a heavy day on the U.S. economic calendar.

Traders eye U.S. reports on private sector employment, job openings and pending home sales as well as the Fed's Beige Book later in the day ahead of the Labour Department's closely watched monthly jobs report, due on Friday.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell's speech at a Brookings Institution event is likely to be in the spotlight as traders look for additional clues about the central bank's thinking on inflation and interest-rate hikes.

Closer home, Euro area inflation figures will be watched closely after Spain and Germany reported lower figures on Tuesday.

Asian markets were broadly higher despite weak factory and services activity data from China, with the corresponding PMIs hitting seven-month lows.

Factory activity shrank for a second straight month in November, with the official manufacturing purchasing managers' index slipping to 48.0 from 49.2 in October, weighed down by COVID-19 curbs and softening global demand. The non-manufacturing PMI slid to 46.7 from 48.7 in October.

Elsewhere, Japan and South Korea reported disappointing industrial production figures, putting growth worries back in focus.

A dollar gauge declined and Treasuries were little changed, helping gold prices tick higher.

Oil prices rose over 1 percent to extend gains for a third straight session on signs of falling stockpiles and speculation of more supply cuts by the OPEC.

U.S. stocks ended mixed overnight as Chinese health officials defended the country's zero-COVID policy at a press briefing but said lockdowns would be lifted "as quickly as possible".

The Dow ended flat with a positive bias while the S&P 500 slipped 0.2 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite shed 0.6 percent to end lower for a third day running.

European stocks also ended a choppy session on a mixed note Tuesday despite positive German inflation and Eurozone economic confidence data.

The pan European STOXX 600 slid 0.1 percent. The German DAX eased 0.2 percent, while France's CAC 40 index finished marginally higher and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 rose half a percent.