European Shares Seen Opening Up In Cautious Trade

European stocks are seen opening higher on Tuesday as trading resumes after a long holiday weekend.

The gains, if any, may remain capped by heightened U.S.-China tensions over Taiwan and uncertainty about what the Federal Reserve will do next.

The U.S. and the Philippines are holding their largest-ever joint military drills a day after China concluded large-scale exercises around Taiwan.

Gold ticked higher as the dollar weakened after a three-day rally.

After last week’s U.S. jobs data pointed to a tight labor market, traders now await U.S. CPI data, reports on retail sales and industrial production, the release of FOMC meeting minutes and speeches by Fed officials this week for additional clarity on the rate outlook.

CME Group’s FedWatch Tool currently indicates a 71.7 percent chance the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates by a quarter point next month.

Asian stocks traded mixed, with Chinese and Hong Kong markets slipping into the red amid rising tensions across the Taiwan Strait.

China’s military exercises have caused instability in Taiwan and the region and are irresponsible acts for a major country, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said.

China’s consumer inflation eased last month despite a pickup in economic activity, while producer prices remained in deflation, data showed earlier today.

Elsewhere, the Bank of Korea held its policy rate steady, in line with expectations.

The dollar gained against the yen after the new Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Kazuo Ueda vowed to maintain the bank’s ultra-loose monetary policy.

U.S. stocks ended mixed overnight, and the dollar rose as markets contended with uncertainty around the Fed’s actions following last week’s monthly jobs report.

The Dow rose 0.3 percent and the S&P 500 inched up 0.1 percent while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite ended flat with a negative bias.

European markets were closed for the Easter holidays.

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