BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks are seen opening higher on Wednesday despite concerns surrounding halted Covid-19 vaccine trials and an elusive U.S. stimulus agreement.
The International Monetary Fund has upgraded its global growth outlook for 2020 to -4.4 percent but projected a partial and uneven recovery in 2021, saying that several risks remain and 'persistent social distancing' will curb a full rebound in activity.
Asian markets are trading mixed as Chinese President Xi Jinping welcomed foreign countries to participate more in the reform.
Both the euro and the British pound weakened against the dollar after the EU demanded 'substantive' movement on fisheries, dispute settlement and guarantees of fair competition in their talks on a post-Brexit trade deal.
EU leaders will assemble in Brussels on Thursday and Friday to take stock of the negotiations.
Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey on Tuesday said the U.K. is not going through a V-shaped economic recovery as some sectors/localities continued to face corona restrictions.
The dollar and oil held steady while gold hovered below $1,900 as U.S. drug maker Eli Lilly joined Johnson & Johnson in halting its trials of a Covid-19 vaccine over safety concerns.
On the stimulus front, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rejected a $1.8 trillion relief proposal from the White House, claiming the proposal 'falls significantly short of what this pandemic and deep recession demand.' She still hopes a deal can be reached.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has announced the Senate will vote on a more limited stimulus bill once lawmakers return from recess on October 19.
Eurostat is slated to issue euro area industrial output data for August later in the day. Economists expect production to grow 0.8 percent sequentially in the month, slower than the 4.1 percent increase seen in July.
European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde is set to speak via videoconference at the 16th Global Roundtable organized by the United Nations Environment Program Finance Initiative.
Across the Atlantic, another batch of earnings news may attraction attention, with Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, UnitedHealth and Wells Fargo among the companies due to report their quarterly results before the start of trading.
U.S. stocks edged lower overnight as a stalemate in stimulus negotiations continued, a string of earnings reports from companies ranging from airlines to banks proved to be a mixed bag, and the pause of a key coronavirus trial added to uncertainty about when a safe and effective vaccine will be ready.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 shed around 0.6 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.1 percent.
European markets fell on Tuesday amid worries about growth as a second wave of coronavirus cases prompted new restrictions.
The pan European Stoxx 600 gave up half a percent. The German DAX dropped 0.9 percent, France's CAC 40 index gave up 0.6 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 declined half a percent.
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