European Shares Seen Drifting Lower As Micron's Forecast Fails To Meet Expectations

(RTTNews) - European stocks are seen opening on a cautious note Thursday, with technology stocks likely to come under selling pressure as memory chip major Micron's in-line revenue guidance disappointed investors who had expected more.

Markets may also remain on edge ahead of the first Trump-Biden Presidential debate of the year later in the day

U.S. Democrat and Republican front-runners Joe Biden and Donald Trump will meet for a debate in Atlanta, Georgia at 9.00 pm ET before CNN moderators Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, ahead of November's hotly contested U.S. election.

In economic releases, investors await directional cues from the U.S. PCE price index data on Friday, which is the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge.

U.S. reports on Q1 quarter GDP, durable goods orders for the month of May and jobless claims are also due this week.

The European economic calendar remains light, with Eurozone economic sentiment survey results awaited later in the day.

Asian markets declined as tech stocks resumed declines and data showed growth in China's industrial profits slowed sharply in May, raising concerns over economic recovery.

Treasuries extended their sell-off while gold steadied below $2,300 per ounce after a two-day decline.

Oil edged lower on fears of slowing U.S. demand after data showed a surprise inventory build.

Overnight, U.S. stocks struggled for direction before ending slightly higher as investors awaited key economic data and the Fed's release of results from its annual banking sector stress test.

In economic news, data showed sales of new U.S. single-family homes dropped to a six-month low in May as mortgage rates remain elevated.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained half a percent while the S&P 500 edged up 0.2 percent and the Dow finished marginally higher.

After Wall Street's close, the Federal Reserve said that all 31 tested banks remain well positioned to withstand a major recession but aren't in as strong of a position as they were the year prior.

European stocks ended lower on Wednesday, failing to hold early gains due to uncertainty over French election outcome and the U.S. interest-rate outlook.

The pan European STOXX 600 gave up 0.6 percent. The German DAX slipped 0.1 percent, France's CAC 40 shed 0.7 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 eased 0.3 percent.