BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks are seen opening a tad lower on Tuesday, though London's commodity-heavy FTSE 100 may rise at open, tracking a rebound in oil prices.
Both WTI and Brent contracts jumped more than 2 percent in Asian trade after several U.S. allies, including Germany, Spain, Italy, Australia and Japan have declined President Donald Trump's request to secure the Strait of Hormuz, a vital artery for a fifth of global energy shipments. The U.K. and France said they are willing to discuss options.
As the U.S.-Israel war with Iran entered day 18, the Israeli military said it had begun a 'wide-scale wave of strikes' across Iran's capital and was also stepping up strikes on Iran-backed Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.
The United Arab Emirates briefly closed its airspace after a drone attack on Dubai Airport that caused a fire in a fuel tank.
U.S. President Trump claimed Iran's retaliatory strikes on Gulf nations were unexpected and that he does not believe Israel would use a nuclear weapon in its war with Iran.
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said during a weekly briefing that Tehran had shown it was ready to take the war with Israel and the United States as far as necessary.
U.S. equity futures edged lower after the major averages rebounded sharply in the regular session.
As inflation risks mount, investors now look ahead to the monetary policy announcements from central banks, including the Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and the Bank of England.
The Federal Reserve's policy decision is scheduled for Wednesday, with economists expecting the central bank to leave interest rates unchanged.
Market participants will closely watch updated economic projections and comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell for additional clues on the Fed's rate trajectory.
The Bank for International Settlements on Monday urged central banks not to rush reactions to the Iran crisis-driven spike in global energy prices, calling it a textbook case of when to 'look through' a supply shock.
Asian markets were broadly higher this morning despite U.S. President Trump requesting a delay to his summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping for about a month.
Gold was modestly higher at $5,040 an ounce as the dollar eased from recent highs. The Japanese yen weakened despite verbal warnings from authorities.
Just days before the policy decision, Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda said today that underlying inflation was gradually accelerating toward the central bank's 2 percent target because of rising oil prices.
U.S. stocks rebounded overnight while the dollar and Treasury yields dipped as oil prices pulled back from recent highs amid efforts to help secure the Strait of Hormuz.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite surged 1.2 percent as Nvidia's biggest event of the year kicked off and reports suggested that Meta Platforms plans to lay off 20 percent or more of its workforce.
The S&P 500 rallied 1 percent and the Dow climbed 0.8 percent after U.S. Treasury Secretary announced allowing Iranian oil tankers to transit through the key oil shipping route in order to maintain global oil supplies.
European stocks closed higher on Monday after having struggled for direction till around noon. The pan European Stoxx 600 rose 0.4 percent. The German DAX gained half a percent, France's CAC 40 edged up by 0.3 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 added 0.6 percent.
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