By Peter Nurse
Investing.com - European stock markets are expected to edge higher at the open Tuesday, with investors concentrating on the release of U.S. inflation data later in the session and what it means for interest rate expectations.
At 02:00 ET (07:00 GMT), the DAX futures contract in Germany traded 0.2% higher, CAC 40 futures in France climbed 0.4% and the FTSE 100 futures contract in the U.K. rose 0.2%.
Global stock markets are largely in a holding pattern ahead of the U.S. consumer price index for November, which is expected to show a moderation in the annual pace, to 7.3% from 7.7% the prior month, while the core inflation remains steady at 0.3% month-on-month.
Investors generally remain very wary about the risks of further increases in borrowing costs hurting economies, and signs of inflation remaining at elevated levels could prevent the Federal Reserve from beginning to slow its aggressive rate rises when it concludes its latest policy-setting meeting on Wednesday.
Back in Europe, the U.K. claimant count increased by 30,500 in November, while the October unemployment rate rose to 3.7%, from 3.6% the prior month, as the country’s labor market began to feel the repercussions of the slowdown in consumer spending.
The final reading of the headline annual German CPI figure came in at 10.0% for November, down from 10.4% the prior month.
Investors will also focus on the German ZEW economic sentiment survey, which is expected to show a slight improvement in confidence in the Eurozone's biggest economy, ahead of Thursday's meeting of the European Central Bank.
In corporate news, National Grid (LON:NG) will be in the spotlight after it reportedly canceled standby notices for two coal units late Monday, helped by high nuclear output and wind speeds, after earlier in the day asking for help as a cold snap gripped the U.K.
Crude oil prices have extended the previous session’s gains on continued concerns about tightening supply as the Keystone pipeline between the U.S. and Canada remained closed.
Keystone has remained shut since a massive leak in the U.S. state of Kansas was reported on Dec. 7, preventing around 620,000 barrels-per-day of Canadian crude from entering the United States, the largest consumer in the world.
The pipeline closure is likely to be reflected in the latest U.S. crude inventories, with the latest numbers from the industry body American Petroleum Institute due later Tuesday ahead of the official data from the Energy Information Administration on Wednesday.
Comments from China’s ambassador to the U.S. late Monday that his country will continue to relax its strict COVID-19 measures have also helped the tone.
By 02:00 ET, U.S. crude futures traded 1.4% higher at $74.16 a barrel, while the Brent contract rose 1.5% to $79.15. Both benchmarks settled up more than 2% in the previous session.
Additionally, gold futures rose 0.3% to $1,796.50/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.1% higher at 1.0550.