European stocks closed higher last Friday as investors digested economic data from the region including a preliminary U.K. second-quarter GDP reading, July inflation prints out of France, Spain and Italy, and euro zone industrial production for June.
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LONDON — European stocks are expected to open higher Tuesday, regaining some positive momentum after last week’s volatility.
The U.K.’s FTSE index is seen opening 26 points higher at 8,233, Germany’s DAX up 18 points at 17,288, France’s CAC 40 up 14 points at 7,259 and Italy’s FTSE MIB 62 points higher at 32,084, according to data from IG.
European stocks closed mixed on Monday as forthcoming U.S. and U.K. inflation data dominated investor attention.
U.K. inflation data, due on Wednesday, will be the first print since the Bank of England cut interest rates by 25 basis points. After two months at 2%, economists polled by Reuters expect the headline rate to tick higher, to 2.3%.
Investors around the world will be analyzing the latest U.S. inflation data too this week, in order to get a better picture of the state of health of the world’s largest economy.
The U.S. producer price index, a measure of wholesale prices, is published on Tuesday and the consumer price index for July will be released Wednesday, with investors assessing whether the data could prompt the U.S. Federal Reserve to begin cutting rates in September.
Asia-Pacific markets were mixed overnight after a choppy session in the U.S. on Monday. U.S. stock futures were little changed Monday night as investors await this week’s key inflation data.
In Europe Tuesday, earnings are due from Bilfinger, Henkel and Pandora. Data releases include UK unemployment and the EU economic sentiment index.