European Shares Seen Mostly Higher At Open

(RTTNews) - European stocks are seen opening broadly higher on Monday as investors keep a close eye on geopolitical developments in the Middle East and ponder the U.S. Federal Reserve's next move on interest rates.

Ahead of the Fed's upcoming Jackson Hole meeting later this month, traders eagerly await the minutes of last month's FOMC meeting, to be released Wednesday, for fresh insights on how board members view inflation and the interest-rate environment.

According to CME's FedWatch tool, expectations for a rate hike at the Fed's September meeting currently stand at about 33 percent.

Market participants also await quarterly earnings from retailers, including Home Depot, Lowe's, Target and Walmart this week for fresh clues about the health of the world's largest economy amid persistent inflation.

On the geopolitical front, Iran said it has not yet decided whether to resume negotiations with the Unted States and that a "new path" must be established to resolve the conflict.

Saudi Arabia has warned of a "potential danger" in Jazan province in the country's southwest amid renewed Houthi attacks on Saudi energy facilities.

At least 11 people were killed in Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon on Saturday, one of the deadlines days of fighting in months, clouding prospects for a ceasefire agreement to end the conflict.

Israel's far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir has advocated for killing "30 to 40 people" in Gaza every night and go beyond "those who pose a danger … at that particular moment."

The Trump administration intends to impose severe economic pressure on Iran, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggesting Washington will announce additional sanctions as early as this week to isolate Iran economically.

Asian stocks were mixed as weak U.S. economic data raised the risk of slowing growth when inflation is still high. Chinese and Hong Kong markets were rising ahead of China's July activity data due later in the day.

The dollar-yen pair showed resilience as Japan's 10-year bond yield hit a three-decade high, approaching the closely watched 3 percent level on inflation concerns and expectations of an interest rate hike next month.

Data showed Japan's economy expanded just 1.1 percent annualized in Q2 202, missing forecasts due to lackluster household spending and business investment.

The U.S. dollar was under pressure while gold held firm around $4,400 an ounce as traders reduced bets for the Federal Reserve to cut raise interest rates next month.

Brent crude futures held steady at $88.62 a barrel after climbing 6 percent last week. Investors braced for further supply disruptions despite Iran and Oman appear to be moving closer to an understanding over the management of the Strait of Hormuz.

Following attacks on tankers, only five commodity vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday while none registered for Sunday, versus 31 in the prior weekend, according to ship tracking data from Kpler.

U.S. stocks fell slightly on Friday after rising over the previous two sessions.

Economic concerns took center stage as July retail sales dropped by the largest margin in over a year and a measure of consumer sentiment fell for the first time in three months amid worries about worsening business conditions and the rising cost of living.

The Dow and the S&P 500 both slid around 0.2 percent while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite shed 0.3 percent.

European stocks ended mixed on Friday as investors weighed stalled efforts to end the U.S.-Iran war.

The pan-European STOXX 600 dipped 0.2 percent. While the German DAX rose half a percent, France's CAC 40 and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 both fell by 0.2 percent.