European Shares Seen Higher At Open

(RTTNews) - European stocks may open slightly higher on Wednesday after reports that the United States and the European Union are planning to impose new sanctions on Iran, following its weekend attack on Israel.

Israel has vowed to retaliate against Iran, but officials haven't said how or when they might strike.

Israel's Foreign Minister Israel Katz said a diplomatic offensive against Iran would be carried out alongside Israel's military response.

Asian markets traded mixed, with China's Shanghai Composite rising over 1 percent as better-than-expected Q1 GDP data released the previous day boosted hopes of economic recovery.

Other regional markets were subdued after several Fed officials warned of longer inflation flight.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell cautioned that persistently elevated inflation will likely delay any rate cuts until later this year.

Vice Chair Philip Jefferson said "it will be appropriate to hold in place the current restrictive stance of policy for longer" if inflation fails to slow as expected.

Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin said the recent run of indicators had not supported the idea of a soft landing for the economy.

Gold held steady near $2,380 per ounce while oil traded lower on demand concerns and amid data showing a large weekly build in U.S. inventories.

The International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday that a resilient global economy is set for steady growth in the next two years, but the growth will be uneven amid persistent risks.

U.K. consumer price inflation data for March is due later in the day and hotter-than-expected headline and core annual inflation figures could help push back market expectations of a September BoE rate cut.

Across the Atlantic, the Fed's Beige Book may attract some attention later in the day.

U.S. stocks fluctuated before ending narrowly mixed overnight while yields climbed after the release of encouraging manufacturing data and hawkish Fed comments.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.2 percent to notch its third straight day of losses and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite eased 0.1 percent while the Dow rose 0.2 percent to snap a six-session losing streak.

European stocks closed lower on Tuesday to snap a two-day winning streak amid heightened tensions in the Middle East, signs of feeble demand in China and lingering uncertainty around rate cuts.

The pan European STOXX 600 dropped 1.5 percent. The German DAX and France's CAC 40 both fell around 1.4 percent while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 shed 1.8 percent.