European Shares Seen Opening Up In Cautious Trade

(RTTNews) - European stocks are likely to open on a steady note Monday after U.S. stocks posted their longest advance in three months on Friday amid signs of easing trade tensions and bets the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates as early as June, as the American economy softens.

U.S. stock futures ticked lower as investors braced for a busy week of earnings and economic releases, with financial results from Microsoft, Apple, Meta Platforms and Amazon, the all-important U.S. jobs report, Q1 GDP data and the Federal Reserve's favored inflation gauge, core PCE, awaited.

Closer home, GDP and preliminary inflation figures are due this week.

Canada goes to the polls today as economic challenges and U.S. President Donald Trump's ongoing trade threats loom large.

The Bank of Japan sets monetary policy on Thursday, with economists expecting no policy change as U.S.-Japan trade talks progress.

Asian stocks were broadly higher this morning after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the Trump administration is working on bilateral trade deals with 17 key trading partners, not including China, and that Beijing will be forced to the negotiating table.

According to a Time magazine interview published Friday, U.S. President Trump said he would consider it a "total victory" if the U.S. has high tariffs of 20 percent to 50 percent on foreign countries a year from now.

Trump also said that he expects to wrap up U.S. tariff deals within the next three to four weeks and that he would not drop tariffs on China unless "they give us something," adding to the confusion.

Investors looked forward to potential new stimulus measures from China at a press conference later today.

Gold fell below the $3,300 per ounce mark on a firmer dollar and Treasuries were steady, while oil prices ticked up slightly after a volatile week.

U.S. stocks ended on a firm note Friday and logged strong gains for the week amid optimism that the worst of the tariff-induced uncertainty is over.

President Trump told Time magazine that tariff negotiations were underway with China and that Chinese President Xi Jinping had called him, but Beijing denied the claims and said "U.S. should stop creating confusion."

Meanwhile, investors shrugged off data that showed U.S. consumer sentiment fell to one of the lowest readings on record and long-term inflation expectations climbed to the highest since 1991 due to Trump's trade war.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rallied 1.3 percent and the S&P added 0.7 percent to extend gains for the fourth straight session while the narrower Dow ended flat with a positive bias.

European stocks closed higher on Friday despite much uncertainty regarding Trump's trade policies.

The pan European STOXX 600 edged up by 0.4 percent, building on the week's rally. The German DAX gained 0.8 percent, France's CAC 40 rose half a percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 inched up marginally.