BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks are likely to open higher on Tuesday, a day after global equities suffered their biggest losses in more than a decade.
There is some relief as oil prices jumped around 6 percent supported by hopes for a settlement and potential U.S. output cuts.
Oil prices plunged by a third on Monday in their worst session since the 1991 Gulf War after top producers Saudi Arabia and Russia launched a price war.
The dollar recovered from heavy losses against the yen after U.S. President Donald Trump said he would press lawmakers to enact a payroll tax cut amid a roiling coronavirus pandemic. Trump also said he'd reveal further details of the 'very dramatic' steps during a news conference later today.
Asked about the danger of a U.S. recession, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the U.S. economy is resilient.
'This is not like the financial crisis where we don't know the end is in sight,' Mnuchin said. 'This is about providing proper tools and liquidity to get through the next few months.'
Meanwhile, the threat of a pandemic has become very real, the chief of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday, as the novel coronavirus got a foothold in many countries and caused more economic damage.
Chinese authorities reported the lowest number of fresh coronavirus cases since data started being reported in late January. The total infections topped 110,000 across the world, with Italy extending restrictions to the whole of the country.
Asian markets took a breather from recent steep declines, while gold prices fell 1 percent as stimulus hopes helped lift the dollar.
Revised quarterly national accounts from euro area and industrial production figures from France are due later in the session, headlining a light day for the European economic news.
U.K. like-for-like retail sales declined in February despite rising consumer confidence, data from the British Retail Consortium and KPMG showed earlier today.
Like-for-like sales fell 0.4 percent annually in February, confounding expectations for an increase of 0.4 percent.
The European Central Bank's policy decision comes Thursday and markets are positioning for a 10 bps rate cut to help shore up the economy and inflation. Britain's new government will go ahead with its first budget on Wednesday.
U.S. stocks fell again overnight as the oil price plunge added to nervousness spurred by the spreading coronavirus. Trading was suspended for 15 minutes after the S&P 500 opened with a 7 percent cut, the prescribed limit for a lower circuit.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 7.8 percent in its worst day since 2008. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lost 7.3 percent and the S&P 500 slumped 7.6 percent.
European stocks tanked on Monday as mounting fears about rapidly spreading coronavirus and falling crude oil prices rendered the mood extremely bearish.
The pan European Stoxx 600 tumbled 7.4 percent. The German DAX lost 7.9 percent, France's CAC 40 index plummeted 8.4 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 shed 7.7 percent.
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