BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks look set to open on a cautious note Tuesday as a two-day policy meeting of the Federal Reserve gets underway later today.
While no changes to interest rates is expected, the U.S. central bank may acknowledge the worsening global backdrop and downside risks for growth.
Market participants expect a statement from Fed Chairman Jerome Powell where he assures that sustaining the U.S. economic expansion is the central bank's 'overarching' goal and that he is prepared to act if things deteriorate.
As trade tensions cloud the global growth outlook, investors also await the outcome of the Bank of Japan and Bank of England policy meetings taking place this week.
The European Central Bank kicked off its annual symposium in Sintra, Portugal, amid questions on whether it will deliver further policy easing in the next few months.
The European Central Bank Governing Council would consider the impact of negative interest rates and the tiering system, if it had to conclude that cutting rates is the best option, ECB Executive Board Member Benoit Coeure said.
'All options come with costs and benefits, and we have to ponder them very carefully,' Coeure said in an interview to the Financial Times, the text of which was published on the ECB website on Monday.
In the U.K., there will be a second ballot on the leadership contest today to choose Theresa May's successor as leader of the country's ruling party.
A report on German economic sentiment, Europe's new car registrations data for May and Eurozone final inflation numbers are due later in the day.
Asian markets are turning in a mixed performance and the dollar pulled back from multi-week highs while oil extended losses for a second day on concerns about slowing global growth.
U.S. stocks rose overnight as weak data spurred speculation about interest-rate cuts. The Dow and the S&P 500 inched up around 0.1 percent while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 0.6 percent.
European markets ended Monday's session on a mixed note as investors awaited clues from central bank meetings.
The pan European Stoxx 600 edged down marginally. The German DAX slipped 0.1 percent while France's CAC 40 index rose 0.4 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 added 0.2 percent.
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