European Shares Seen Tad Higher As Investors Brace For Fed Meet

(RTTNews) - European stocks look set to open higher on Monday after a broad-based rally on hopes for a slowdown in some central banks' rate hikes sent Wall Street to a sharply higher close on Friday.

Asian markets traded broadly higher as optimism over corporate earnings offset weak China data pointing to further loss of momentum in the world's second-largest economy.

China's factory and services activity both contracted in October as worsening COVID-19 outbreaks created more disruptions for businesses and residents.

Chinese cities are doubling down on Beijing's zero-COVID policy, dampening earlier hopes of a rebound in demand.

The dollar strengthened and the benchmark 10-year Treasury yields held above the 4 percent threshold, while gold headed for a seventh straight monthly loss as investors eyed the Federal Reserve's Nov 1-2 meeting for guidance on its future stance.

Oil prices slipped in Asian trade on concerns that increased COVID-19 curbs in China will dent fuel demand.

Flash quarterly national accounts and inflation reports from the euro area and mortgage approvals data from the U.K. are due later in the session.

U.S. stocks rose sharply on Friday as fresh data pointing to slowing inflation and solid readings on personal income and spending outweighed weak earnings reports from mega-cap technology companies.

The Dow climbed 2.6 percent to hit a two-month closing high and book its longest winning streak since November 2021, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite surged 2.9 percent and the S&P 500 added 2.5 percent.

European stocks reversed course to end broadly higher on Friday as investors reacted to a slew of earnings updates and economic data.

The pan European Stoxx 600 edged up 0.1 percent. The German DAX inched up 0.2 percent and France's CAC 40 index rose half a percent while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 dropped 0.4 percent.