European Shares Seen Little Changed; UK Inflation Data Eyed

(RTTNews) - European stocks are seen opening on a flat note Wednesday, with trading volumes likely to remain thin due to a holiday in the U.S. in observance of Juneteenth.

Asian markets traded mixed despite another record-breaking session on Wall Street overnight.

Gold held steady as the dollar wobbled amid signs that U.S. economic activity remained lackluster in the second quarter.

All Fed officials speaking Tuesday stressed the Fed's commitment to making decisions based on incoming economic data.

New York Federal Reserve President John Williams said interest rates will come down gradually as inflation eases.

Boston Federal Reserve President Susan Collins has cautioned against getting carried away with recent inflation data and urged patience on rate cuts.

Fed Governor Adriana Kugler struck a largely upbeat tone on the economic outlook and said that recent data on inflation has pointed to renewed progress.

Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee called the latest inflation data "excellent, after a few months of less-excellent numbers.

Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan said the Fed is in a good position with rates to be patient.

Oil prices were marginally higher in Asian trading after closing at a seven-week high on Tuesday amid signs of mounting tensions in Europe and the Middle East.

Ukrainian forces have launched a drone attack that set several oil storage tanks ablaze near the town of Azov in southern Russia, posing a threat to physical global supply and boosting the risk premium priced into crude futures.

Elsewhere, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said that the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement would be destroyed in the event of a "total war".

In economic releases, consumer and producer prices from the U.K. are due later in the session ahead of Thursday's BoE policy meeting.

U.K. consumer price inflation is seen at 2.0 percent compared to 2.3 percent in April. Output prices are expected to climb 0.1 percent on month, while input prices are forecast to fall 0.2 percent.

The Bank of England is likely to leave interest rates unchanged at the 16-year high of 5.25 on Thursday as British citizens head to the polls in two weeks.

U.S. stocks rose overnight as investors digested mixed economic data and commentary from a slew of Fed officials emphasizing the need for more evidence of cooling inflation before lowering rates.

May industrial production and manufacturing output both beat expectations while retail sales barely rose and April's data was revised significantly lower, sending Treasury yields lower and helping investors increase bets on two interest-rate increases this year.

The S&P 500 inched up 0.3 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite finished marginally higher to reach new record closing highs while the Dow rose 0.2 percent.

European stocks extended gains for a second day running on Tuesday as government bond yields edged lower on easing concerns over political risk in France.

The pan European STOXX 600 climbed 0.7 percent. The German DAX edged up 0.4 percent, France's CAC 40 added 0.8 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.6 percent.