European Shares Seen Tad Lower Ahead Of Tech Earnings, Rate Decisions

(RTTNews) - European stocks are seen opening a tad lower on Tuesday as investors await earnings from major U.S. technology companies and the Federal Reserve's interest-rate decision for direction.

Regional losses may remain capped somewhat as oil prices extended losses for a second consecutive session on hopes of resolution in the U.S.-Iran war.

Alphabet and Microsoft are scheduled to report their earnings results on Wednesday, followed by Amazon and Intel on Thursday.

The Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement is due on Wednesday, with the central bank widely expected to leave rates unchanged.

With a quarter point rate hike still widely expected at the Fed's December meeting, the accompanying statement will be in the intense spotlight.

Closer home, the European Central Bank is expected to leave interest rates unchanged on Thursday but rising energy prices keep further hikes in December and 2027 in play.

Asian markets were mixed as global bond yields stabilized and oil prices pulled back from recent highs amid hopes for regional diplomacy in the Middle East.

South Korea's Kospi surged nearly 4 percent and Japan's Nikkei was up almost 2 percent as Anthropic's IPO filing along with an announcement by Meta Platforms to raise up to $95 billion in its largest-ever equity fundraising revived investor appetite for artificial intelligence stocks.

Blackstone announced a landmark $63 billion financing deal with chipmaker Broadcom and a consortium of major banks.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said his company closed on $40 billion in financing to pay for specialized chips used to power AI.

Mainland Chinese and Hong Kong markets were subdued on worries about AI demand and curbs on Chinese exports.

Gold held near $4,000 an ounce as the U.S. dollar strengthened ahead of the Fed decision.

Brent crude futures fell nearly 1 percent toward $114 a barrel, extending losses from the previous session amid renewed diplomatic efforts to prevent a wider escalation of the U.S.-Iran conflict.

U.S. stocks closed higher overnight as Anthropic's IPO filing stemmed anxiety about a potential AI bubble and oil prices fell after last week's surge amid hopes for regional diplomacy in the Middle East.

A Qatari delegation was in Tehran on Sunday to work in co-ordination with the U.S. as part of ongoing efforts to de-escalate regional tensions and push for an interim deal.

Senior officials from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian for talks related to regional security amid renewed attacks on Saudi Arabia by the Iran-aligned Houthi militants of Yemen.

Meanwhile, CNN reported, citing two U.S. officials that U.S. forces in West Asia are ready to launch new, potentially, major, military operation against Iran "within 96 hours of receiving" an order from President Trump and that the scope of operation could go beyond limited strikes on Iranian radars, missile launchers and other military assets that can be quickly rebuilt.

While the S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.7 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively to come off consecutive weekly declines, the narrower Dow edged up 0.3 percent.

European stocks staged a recovery on Monday, with underlying sentiment underpinned by upbeat corporate updates and relief over France's unchanged credit rating.

The pan-European STOXX 600 climbed 0.8 percent. The German DAX surged 0.9 percent, France's CAC 40 advanced 0.8 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 added 0.7 percent.