European Stocks Brace For A Cautious Opening On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - European stock markets are likely to open cautious on Wednesday amidst a more-than-expected decline in headline inflation in the U.S. and impending central bank decisions. Annual CPI in the U.S. dropped to 7.1 percent, versus 7.7 percent in the previous month and expectations of 7.3 percent. The euphoria over declining inflation is however expected to be mellowed by the anxiety ahead of the interest rate decisions due on Wednesday by the Fed and on Thursday by Bank of England and European Central Bank.

The positive inflation surprise lifted the Wall Street higher on Tuesday, with the Nasdaq Composite rallying 1.01 percent to close at 11,256.81 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average adding 0.3 percent to finish trading at 34,108.64.

The positive sentiment reverberated in the European markets too and by close of trading on Tuesday, France's CAC 40 rallied 1.42 percent, Germany's DAX gained 1.34 percent, the pan-European Stoxx 600 added 1.3 percent, Switzerland's SMI advanced 0.93 percent and U.K.'s FTSE 100 strengthened 0.76 percent.

Indications from the European stock futures however portend a weak opening on Wednesday. The FTSE 100 Futures (Mar) is currently trading 0.01 percent higher. The DAX Futures (Dec) is currently trading 0.05 percent lower. The CAC 40 Futures (Jan) had closed 1.19 percent higher on Tuesday.

American stock futures indicate markets extending gains. The US 30 (DJIA) index and the US500 (S&P 500) are both up 0.3 percent.

Asian stock markets are trading in the green zone amidst widespread relief over the easing in CPI numbers in the U.S. South Korea's KOSPI is trading 1.03 percent higher. Hong Kong's Hang Seng has rallied 0.95 percent. Japan's Nikkei 225 has gained 0.75 percent. Australia's S&P ASX 200 added 0.67 percent. India's Nifty 50 and China's Shanghai Composite are trading 0.3 percent higher. New Zealand's NZX 50 has however dropped 0.14 percent.

Amidst caution ahead of the Fed policy, the Dollar and the Dollar Index (DXY) - a measure of the Dollar's strength relative to six currencies - have increased from the flatline. DXY is currently at 104.08, gaining 0.09 percent. The EUR/USD pair edged down to 1.0627 whereas the GBP/USD pair edged lower to 1.2358.

Amidst the Dollar's mild rally, Gold Futures for February settlement has edged down 0.25 percent to trade at $1,820.85 per troy ounce.

The surprise build in crude oil inventories in the U.S. dragged both the crude oil benchmarks lower. WTI Crude Futures for January settlement has decreased 0.4 percent to $75.08, whereas Brent Crude Futures for February settlement has fallen 0.5 percent to $80.31.

U.K. awaits inflation readings for the month of November. Headline inflation is seen falling to 10.9 percent from 11.1 percent earlier whereas Core inflation is seen steady at 6.5 percent. Industrial production data from the Euro Area is expected to show a decline of 1.5 percent versus growth of 0.9 percent in the previous month.

Earnings updates are due from Metro Wholesale and Food Specialist, Watches of Switzerland Group and IntegraFin Holdings.