European Shares Seen Tad Lower At Open

(RTTNews) - European stocks are likely to open lower on Tuesday as investors brace for Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's congressional testimony and the ECB rate decision.

Powell is due to testify before the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday and the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday.

U.S. service sector activity data for February, due out later in the day may also offer important clues on the economic and rate outlook.

Among other reports, data on factory orders, private sector employment, weekly jobless claims and the U.S. trade deficit along with the Fed's Beige Book are due to be released this week.

The U.S. Labour Department's employment report is due on Friday, with employment expected to increase by 200,000 jobs in February after an increase of 353,000 jobs in January.

Asian markets were broadly lower after China set this year's GDP growth target at 5 percent and vowed to push ahead with transforming the growth model in the face of a raft of economic problems.

Earlier today, a private survey showed that China's services activity grew at a slower pace in February.

Final composite Purchasing Managers' survey results from the euro area and the U.K are awaited later in the day.

The European Central Bank announces its monetary policy decision on Thursday, with investors waiting for cues on when it would start easing interest rates from record highs.

Gold was little changed in Asian trading after climbing to a three-month peak and settling above the $2100 mark on Monday on increased bets for a June rate cut by the Federal Reserve.

The dollar steadied while oil extended overnight losses amid concerns about the outlook for energy demand.

U.S. stocks backed off from record highs overnight while Treasury yields ticked higher on uncertainty over the path of interest rates.

The Dow eased 0.3 percent, the S&P 500 slipped 0.1 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gave up 0.4 percent.

European stocks ended broadly lower on Monday as investors awaited cues from China's annual parliamentary meetings, Fed Chair Jerome Powell's congressional testimony and the ECB policy meeting.

The pan European STOXX 600 ended little changed with a negative bias. The German DAX slipped 0.1 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 shed 0.6 percent while France's CAC 40 edged up 0.3 percent.