BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks are seen opening broadly higher on Monday as inflation concerns eased ahead of U.S. midterm elections.
Speaking at a campaign rally in Dubuque, lowa, U.S. Donald Trump has renewed his threat to strike Iran but claimed that U.S. military action had destroyed Iran's nuclear capabilities and the conflict would end soon.
In a report published on November 1, Radio Free Europe quoted Trump as saying that the United States still needed to deal with one or two Iranian targets.
However, Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that Trump prefers a diplomatic resolution to the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, raising hopes of a settlement and easing concerns about further energy supply disruptions.
Ongoing discussions involving Iranian officials and Qatari mediators have also raised hopes of possible breakthrough that could ease supply concerns and improve the outlook for global energy markets.
Persian Gulf countries fear that another U.S. attack on a better-prepared Iran could trigger a more destructive conflict across the region.
Brent crude futures were down more than 3 percent below $110 a barrel in Asian trade after climbing 13.6 percent in October.
U.S. stock futures ticked higher after the Nasdaq Composite recorded its worst monthly performance since March 2025, declining approximately 5.3 percent in October.
Asian markets were mixed despite growing concerns about massive AI spending. Asia's factory growth continued to expand in October, but growth slowed in major chip exporters, private surveys showed earlier today.
Following Intel's nearly 29 percent plunge on Friday, its worst one-day drop in decades, investors looked ahead to upcoming earnings from Apple, AMD and Palantir for further direction.
In a research report, Goldman Sachs analysts said that major hyperscale technology companies are likely to spend around US$800 billion on capital expenditures in 2026, nearly double the previous year's total, before reaching US$1.2 trillion in 2027.
The investment bank expects earnings growth for the S&P 500 to slow from nearly 30 percent in 2026 to 18 percent in 2027.
The U.S. dollar was steady ahead of this week's U.S. midterm elections that will determine control of Congress.
In economic news, readings on U.S. manufacturing and employment coupled with central bank rate decisions in the U.K., Australia, Norway and Sweden will be in the spotlight this week.
The euro languished near a 17-month low after Fitch lowered France's sovereign rating outlook from 'stable' to 'negative.'
Gold traded up nearly 1 percent at $3,905 an ounce after plummeting 3.7 percent in the previous session to hit a one-year low.
The precious metal slumped 6.8 percent last month, marking its worst October performance since 2008.
U.S. stocks slumped on Friday as a sell-off in tech and artificial intelligence stocks worsened amid concerns that massive AI spending may not deliver the returns that investors expect.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite plummeted 2.9 percent and the S&P 500 fell 1.8 percent, each suffering their worst day since June, following disappointing quarterly results from Intel and Amazon and reports suggesting that hackers stole $6.3 billion from Binance. The narrower Dow lost 1.1 percent.
European stocks closed mostly lower on Friday as higher oil prices and renewed concerns over AI investment returns overshadowed strong corporate earnings.
The pan-European STOXX 600 dropped 0.4 percent. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index edged up 0.1 percent, France's CAC 40 finished marginally lower and the German DAX fell 0.9 percent.
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