European Shares Set To Follow US Peers Higher

European stocks may open on a positive note Wednesday, encouraged by a rally on Wall Street overnight.

A cautious undertone may prevail amid recovery in the U.S. Treasury yields and anxiety ahead of Thursday’s ECB meeting.

Gold slipped on higher U.S. bond yields and a strengthening dollar, with the dollar-yen climbing through 133 to a fresh two-decade high. Oil prices edged up slightly ahead of data on U.S. oil inventories.

Asian stock markets traded mixed as the World Bank slashed its growth estimate for the global economy to 2.9 percent, 1.2 percentage points below the January forecast, saying recession will be hard to avoid for many countries.

The European Central Bank is expected to swing to a tightening bias on Thursday to control record-high inflation in the euro zone.

Investors also brace for the latest reading of U.S. inflation on Friday, heading into the FOMC interest-rate decision on June 15.

Today’s economic calendar remains light, with industrial production data from Germany and U.K. house price figures scheduled for release.

U.S. stocks shrugged off a weak start to settle higher overnight, setting aside a weak margin guidance from Target and the World Bank’s sharp cut to its global growth outlook for the year.

The Dow climbed 0.8 percent, the S&P 500 rallied 1 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.9 percent.

European stocks ended Tuesday’s session broadly lower after data showed Germany’s factory orders fell for a third time in a row in April and the U.K. service sector suffered its worst performance for more than a year last month.

The pan European Stoxx 600 slid 0.3 percent. The German DAX and France’s CAC 40 index both shed around 0.7 percent while the U.K.’s FTSE 100 eased 0.1 percent.

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