European Shares Seen Tad Higher At Open

(RTTNews) - European stocks may open on a positive note Monday as investors keep an eye on the latest batch of earnings and watch further developments on the tariff front.

That said, the upside may remain capped amid heightened worries about inflation and the U.S. economic outlook as new tariffs increase prices on imported goods.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Sunday that the latest round of tariffs are "pretty much set" and unlikely to change.

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway said on Saturday that its consumer goods businesses took a hit from U.S. tariffs in the second quarter. Berkshire said tariffs produced delays in orders and shipments.

The European economic calendar remains light this week, with PMI data from the EU and the U.K. likely to be in the spotlight.

Across the Atlantic, reports on factory orders, service sector activity and jobless claims along with speeches by Federal Reserve officials may provide additional clues on the Fed's interest rate path.

Fed's Williams said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal that he'll have "very much an open mind" on September meeting rate cut.

On the earnings front, Walt Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., McDonald's and Uber are among the prominent U.S. companies that will unveil their quarterly earnings this week.

Asian markets were mixed, with Japan's Nikkei falling more than 1 percent as concerns mounted over the U.S. economy and a potential upheaval in domestic politics.

Seoul stocks climbed following a steep fall last week, weighed down by the government's tax revision proposal to raise taxes on corporations and stock investors.

U.S. Treasury yields edged up slightly and a battered dollar steadied after Trump abruptly fired a senior Labour Department official responsible for compiling jobs statistics.

He also threatened an additional 40 percent tariff on any product that Washington determines to be "transshipped" through another country.

Oil prices were slightly lower in Asian trade after OPEC+ agreed to another large production hike in September.

Gold was little changed after gaining the most in two months on Friday as traders ramped up bets of imminent Federal Reserve rate cuts.

U.S. stocks tumbled on Friday, with weak U.S. payroll data, disappointing Amazon earnings, and concerns over President Trump's new import tariffs on multiple trading partners weighing on markets.

The latest jobs report showed nonfarm payrolls expanded by 73,000 in July, while economists had expected employment to increase by 110,000 jobs.

Jobs numbers for May and June were revised sharply downward and the jobless rate inched up to 4.2 percent, signaling the labor market has been weakening for a while now.

The Dow dropped 1.2 percent, the S&P 500 fell 1.6 percent in its biggest single-day loss since April 21, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gave up 2.2 percent. European stocks suffered heavy losses on Friday as sweep tariffs announced by U.S. President Trump stirred global growth concerns.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index slumped 1.9 percent in its worst session since April.

The German DAX plunged 2.7 percent, France's CAC 40 plummeted 2.9 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 shed 0.7 percent.