European markets flat; investors focus on busy week of data, earnings
- European market sentiment could be overshadowed by economic events and data in the U.S. this coming week, with more U.S. corporate earnings due as well as big data releases.
- The U.S. Federal Reserve is holding a monetary policy meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday, and market participants will be closely watching for clues on whether the central bank is nervous about the prospect of rising inflation
LONDON — European stocks were flat on Monday morning as investors gear up for a busy week on the data and earnings front.
| TICKER | COMPANY | NAME | PRICE | CHANGE | %CHANGE | VOLUME |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| .FTSE | FTSE 100 | FTSE | 6917.74 | -20.82 | -0.30 | 36289768 |
| .GDAXI | DAX | DAX | 15290.53 | 10.91 | 0.07 | 3234978 |
| .FCHI | CAC 40 Index | CAC | 6246.07 | -11.87 | -0.19 | 3240818 |
The pan-European Stoxx 600 was little changed in early trade, with autos sliding 0.5% while basic resources gained 0.7%.
European market sentiment could be overshadowed by economic events and data in the U.S. this coming week, with more U.S. corporate earnings due (some of the largest companies in the world are scheduled to publish results this week including Apple, Microsoft, Amazon and Alphabet) as well as big data releases, including the latest gross domestic product data due Thursday and inflation data Friday.
In addition, the U.S. Federal Reserve is holding a monetary policy meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday, and market participants will be closely watching for clues on whether the central bank is nervous about the prospect of rising inflation. It has previously said it sees the pickup in prices as only temporary.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell will host a press conference Wednesday afternoon to discuss the Federal Open Market Committee’s decision. U.S. stock futures held steady in premarket trade on Monday in anticipation of the busy week ahead.
Meanwhile, shares in major Asia-Pacific markets were mostly higher in Monday trade as investors continue to watch the Covid situation in India. The country continues to battle a startling rise in new coronavirus infections. On Sunday, nearly 350,000 new daily infections were registered.
The Biden administration has said it will immediately make raw materials needed for India’s coronavirus vaccine production available. The U.S. response comes after Britain, France and Germany also pledged aid to India over the weekend.
European earnings came from Philips, Pearson and Michelin on Monday and Germany’s Ifo Institute later releases its latest survey of business conditions for April.
CNBC
