European Shares Seen Tad Lower As US Election Gets Underway

(RTTNews) - European stocks are seen opening broadly lower on Tuesday as the U.S. presidential election gets underway.

Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump remain virtually tied in opinion polls ahead of polling and the winner will not be known for days after voting ends.

Analysts believe Trump's policies on immigration, tax cuts and tariffs would put upward pressure on inflation, bond yields and the dollar.

Markets are also positioning for a 25-basis point rate cut by the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England on Thursday.

The Federal Reserve's commentary on the economic outlook and the future trajectory of interest rates will be watched closely amid the complexities of an election year and geopolitical tensions.

The U.S. economic calendar remains light today, with reports on trade deficit and service sector activity likely to attract some attention.

Final services purchasing managers' survey results from the U.K. and unemployment data from Spain are due later in the day, headlining a light day for the European economic news.

Asian stocks were mostly higher, with Japan's Nikkei rallying more than 1 percent as traders returned to their desks after a long holiday weekend.

China's Shanghai Composite index jumped around 2 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was up 1.3 percent amid economic optimism after Chinese Premier Li Qiang said he was "fully confident" the country would hit its economic goals this year and that there was room for more stimulus.

Observers hope a specific figure for the stimulus could emerge from this week's meeting of the Standing Committee of National People's Congress, the top body of China's rubber stamp parliament.

Also, China's service activity expanded at the fastest pace since July, a private survey showed today in a sign that consumer demand may be on the mend.

The dollar was on the back foot as 'Trump trades' unwind in tight presidential race. Gold was marginally lower, driven by diminished rate-cut expectations.

Oil prices held steady in Asian trade after rallying almost 3 percent on Monday following OPEC+'s decision to delay restoring barrels to the market.

U.S. stocks drifted lower overnight as investors refrained from making big bets ahead of the presidential election and the Fed's interest-rate decision.

The Dow shed 0.6 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 both dipped around 0.3 percent.

European markets fell broadly on Monday, with technology stocks leading losses. The pan European STOXX 600 eased 0.3 percent.

The German DAX dropped 0.6 percent and France's CAC 40 gave up half a percent while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 finished marginally higher.