European Shares Seen Flat To Higher At Open

(RTTNews) - European stocks may open flat to slightly higher on Tuesday as investors evaluate mixed messages from the Trump administration on the tariffs front.

U.S. stock futures slipped after the S&P 500 posted back-to-back winning sessions. U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday suggested that he might temporarily exempt the auto industry from tariffs he previously imposed on the sector, to give carmakers time to adjust their supply chains.

At the same time, the U.S. has launched an inquiry to impose new Trump tariffs on exempted pharma, chip imports, fueling a sense of uncertainty and confusion about Trump's intentions and end goals.

Meanwhile, UBS has cut its China GDP growth forecast to 3.4 percent for 2025 assuming that current tariff hikes will remain and China rolls out additional stimulus.

Investors also await a fresh batch of first-quarter earnings reports from prominent names like Bank of America, Citigroup, Johnson & Johnson and PNC Financial for direction.

In economic news, the latest readings on March's U.S. import and export price indexes as well as the New York Federal Reserve's Empire State Manufacturing Survey results may garner some attention later in the day.

U.K. retail sales increased in March as improving weather boosted house and garden related purchases, the British Retail Consortium said earlier today.

Retail sales grew 1.1 percent on a yearly basis in March. However, this was slower than the 3.5 percent growth in the same period last year.

Asian markets were mixed this morning, with South Korea and Japan logging strong gains.

Treasuries were steady and the dollar index edged higher while gold was slightly lower. Oil traded higher, with U.S.-Iran discussions in focus.

U.S. stocks rose in a choppy session overnight as tech shares surged following a surprise U.S. tariff exemption of smartphones and computers, as well as other devices and components such as semiconductors, from President Trump's new "reciprocal" tariffs.

The Dow and the S&P 500 both climbed around 0.8 percent while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 0.6 percent.

European stocks ended Monday's session on a buoyant note as investors cheered news of a U.S. tariff exemption for some tech items.

The pan European STOXX 600 climbed 2.7 percent. The German DAX jumped 2.9 percent, France's CAC 40 rallied 2.4 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 2.1 percent.