European stocks may open on a cautious note Tuesday as investors weigh geopolitical tensions and the prospect of more U.S. interest rate hikes. <\/p>\n
China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, is due to arrive in Moscow today on the one-year anniversary of its invasion of Ukraine, a day after U.S. President Joe Biden made a surprise visit to Ukraine to see President Zelenskiy.<\/p>\n
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned China against providing “lethal support” for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and condemned the latest North Korean missile launch. <\/p>\n
Asian markets<\/span> were broadly lower as investors digested weak economic indicators from Japan and Australia and waited for cues from the Fed’s meeting minutes, due on Wednesday.<\/p>\n The U.S. core personal consumption expenditure (PCE) data, the Fed’s preferred inflation measure, due later this week is also on investors’ radar.<\/p>\n The dollar index held firm, denting bullion’s appeal. Oil prices fell over 1 percent on concerns that further increases in interest rates may weigh on global growth.<\/p>\n Finnish central bank chief Olli Rehn told a German newspaper that the European Central Bank should keep raising interest rates beyond March and the rate peak could be reached over the summer.<\/p>\n The U.S. markets were closed on Monday for Presidents Day holiday.<\/p>\n European stocks ended narrowly mixed on Monday after a choppy day of trading. The pan-European STOXX 600 ended flat with a positive bias.<\/p>\n The German DAX finished marginally lower and France’s CAC 40 index eased 0.2 percent while the U.K.’s FTSE 100 inched up 0.1 percent. <\/p>\n