European Shares Seen Higher In Cautious Trade

European stocks are likely to open higher on Tuesday as concerns over Russia subsided and optimism grew over a potential improvement in U.S.-China relations.

Making a statement to the nation about Saturday’s aborted armed mutiny, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday he took steps to avoid large-scale bloodshed.

Putin’s unscheduled televised address came just hours after Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner group chief, said he had never intended to overthrow the Russian government.

U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said officials were monitoring events “very closely”.

Asian stocks traded mostly higher, with Chinese and Hong Kong markets leading regional gains on optimism for improved China-U.S. relations.

Media reports indicate that U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen plans to meet her counterpart in Beijing next month. A summit between Xi and President Joe Biden has also been flagged.

Oil and gold prices were seeing modest gains amidst dollar weakness as investors await crucial U.S. economic data this week, including reports on durable goods orders, consumer confidence, new home sales and pending home sales for a cleared picture on the macroeconomic situation.

The Commerce Department is due to release its report on personal income and spending for May, which includes a reading on inflation said to be preferred by the Federal Reserve.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell would be speaking at the policy panel before the European Central Bank Forum in Sintra on banking on Wednesday.

The European economic calendar remains light today, with consumer and business sentiment survey data from Italy awaited later in the session.

The business confidence index is forecast to fall to 101.0 in June from 101.4 in May. The consumer sentiment index is seen at 105.5 versus 105.1 in the previous month.

U.S. stocks closed lower on Monday as growth worries lingered and a short-lived mutiny in Russia by the Wagner paramilitary group revived concerns over nuclear arsenal security.

The Dow ended little changed with a negative bias and the S&P 500 shed half a percent while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lost 1.2 percent as the U.S. yield curve inversion accelerated to near-historic levels.

European stocks closed slightly lower on Monday as weak German business sentiment data and political uncertainty in Russia rendered the mood cautious.

The pan European STOXX 600 slipped 0.1 percent. The German DAX and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 both eased around 0.1 percent while France’s CAC 40 gained 0.3 percent.

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