European stocks may open on a positive note Wednesday, encouraged by a rally on Wall Street overnight. <\/p>\n
A cautious undertone may prevail amid recovery in the U.S. Treasury yields and anxiety ahead of Thursday’s ECB meeting. <\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Asian stock markets<\/span> traded mixed as the World Bank slashed its growth estimate for the global economy<\/span> to 2.9 percent, 1.2 percentage points below the January forecast, saying recession will be hard to avoid for many countries. <\/p>\n The European Central Bank is expected to swing to a tightening bias on Thursday to control record-high inflation in the euro zone. <\/p>\n Investors also brace for the latest reading of U.S. inflation on Friday, heading into the FOMC interest-rate decision on June 15.<\/p>\n Today’s economic calendar remains light, with industrial production data from Germany and U.K. house price figures scheduled for release. <\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n The Dow climbed 0.8 percent, the S&P 500 rallied 1 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.9 percent.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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. <\/p>\n