European Shares Seen Tad Higher Ahead Of Fed Decision

(RTTNews) - European stocks may open broadly higher on Wednesday as investors await the Federal Reserve's policy decision and cling to hope for progress in Sino-U.S. trade talks.

The U.S. Federal Reserve is widely expected to lower interest rates by 25 basis points later today amid slowing job growth.

Investors will look for changes in the latest quarterly rates projections, known as the dot plot, and pore over Chair Jerome Powell's remarks for additional clues about the outlook for rates.

The Bank of England's policy announcement is due on Thursday, with economists expecting no change in interest rates.

Meanwhile, China has reportedly released a Wells Fargo & Co. banker it earlier blocked from leaving the country, ahead of a call between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping scheduled for Friday.

After Trump announced a deal allowing TikTok to continue operating in the U.S., China called the framework deal reached in Madrid a "win-win" and said it would review TikTok's technology exports and intellectual property licensing.

Meanwhile, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday said she and Trump discussed additional steps to increase economic pressure on Russia.

The 19th package of EU sanctions on Russia since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine will include measures targeting crypto, banks and energy, she said.

U.K. consumer price inflation data for August is due later in the day and economists expect the index to remain unchanged at 3.8 percent.

Eurostat is slated to issue euro area final inflation figures for August and the statistical office is expected to confirm the preliminary estimate of 2.1 percent. Asian markets were trading mixed as investors await the Fed decision. Chinese mainland technology stocks listed in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region jumped to their highest level in almost four years on optimism over artificial intelligence fueled demand.

The dollar steadied after recent declines while gold edged lower after briefly breaching the $3,700-an-ounce level in the previous session.

Oil prices eased slightly after rising sharply in the previous session as pressure mounted on Russia's oil industry and the conflict in the Middle East flared up.

U.S. stocks slipped overnight as a two-day meeting of the Federal Reserve got underway. Investors ignored data that showed U.S. factory production unexpectedly increased in August and retail sales rose at a brisk pace for the third month in a row.

The Dow dipped 0.3 percent, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite finished marginally lower and the S&P 500 slid 0.1 percent.

European stocks ended lower on Tuesday, pressured by steep losses in the financial sector.

The pan European STOXX 600 fell 1.1 percent. The German DAX tumbled 1.8 percent, France's CAC 40 lost 1 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 shed 0.9 percent.