European Shares To Open Broadly Higher; Fed, BOE Meetings Eyed

(RTTNews) - European stocks are seen opening broadly higher on Tuesday after the S&P 500 notched another record closing high overnight ahead of a busy week of mega tech earnings, the highly anticipated Federal Reserve rate decision and the release of all-important U.S. jobs report.

Asian stocks traded mixed, with Chinese and Hong Kong markets falling sharply after a Hong Kong court ordered China Evergrande to be wound up, setting off a daunting process to carve up the biggest casualty of a property crisis.

Oil edged up in Asian trade on concerns over potential disruption to oil supply as the U.S. faced intensifying pressure to confront Iran directly.

The dollar was moving in a narrow range as a two-day policy meeting of the Federal Reserve gets underway later today.

No change in rates expected on Wednesday but Fed officials may indicate that they are close to cutting rates by tweaking the language in the statement.

The Bank of England follows with its rate decision on Thursday and the central bank is all but certain to keep interest rates at 5.25 percent.

The day's European economic calendar remains heavy, with GDP data from E.U., Germany, France, Italy; E.U. business & consumer surveys; and France consumer spending data awaited.

Across the Atlantic, trading later in the day may be impacted by reaction to the latest reports on home prices, consumer confidence and job openings.

On the earnings front, General Motors (GM), Pfizer (PFE) and UPS (UPS) are among the companies due to report their quarterly results before the opening bell.

U.S. stocks rose notably overnight while yields dipped as the Treasury Department reduced its estimates for first quarter borrowing.

The Dow rose 0.6 percent and the S&P 500 added 0.8 percent to set new record closing highs, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.1 percent to reach its best closing level in two years.

European stocks also advanced on Monday. The pan-European STOXX 600 briefly touched a fresh two-year high before closing 0.2 percent higher.

France's CAC 40 finished marginally higher while the German DAX and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 both ended flat with a negative bias.