European Shares Seen Higher At Open With Upcoming US Data In Focus

(RTTNews) - European stocks are seen opening higher on Monday after a much-needed relief rally in the tech sector on Wall Street Friday.

Earnings will continue to be in focus this week, with Coca-Cola, Ford Motor, Cisco, McDonald's and T-Mobile among the prominent companies slated to unveil their quarterly results.

In economic releases, the delayed U.S. January jobs report, which was postponed due to the partial government shutdown, will now be released on Wednesday.

The closely watched jobs report is expected to show a gain of 55,000 jobs in January, with the unemployment rate seen steady at 4.4 percent.

The December retail sales report is due out Tuesday while the January consumer price index reading — which was also delayed by the shutdown — will be released on Friday.

Asian markets were mostly higher amid a rally in chip stocks and expectations of more rate cuts from the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Japan's Nikkei surged more than 4 percent to touch a new record high, bonds dropped and the yen weakened following Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's landslide victory in Sunday's general election. South Korea's tech-heavy index was up nearly 4 percent.

The dollar index eased and gold jumped more than 1 percent to trade above $5,000 an ounce, while oil prices fell nearly 1 percent as signs of diplomatic progress between the United States and Iran eased fears of a Middle East conflict.

The British pound fell against the dollar in Asian trade amid political turmoil over Mandelson-Epstein controversy.

Labour MPs have demanded that Sir Keir Starmer resign as Prime Minister after the departure of his top aide over the Peter Mandelson controversy.

U.S. stocks surged on Friday as technology stocks recovered following several days of heavy selling on concerns about AI spending and disruption.

In economic news, U.S. consumer sentiment improved marginally in early February while consumer inflation expectation for the next five years rose from 3.3 percent to 3.4 percent in February, separate set of data revealed.

The Dow rallied 2.5 percent to close above 50,000 for the first time and snap a three-week losing streak. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 2.2 percent and the S&P 500 added 2 percent.

European stocks ended Friday's session higher, reversing morning losses as a crucial week for earnings drew to a close.

The pan European Stoxx 600 advanced 0.9 percent. The German DAX gained 0.9 percent, France's CAC 40 rose by 0.4 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 advanced 0.6 percent.