European stocks traded higher on Tuesday morning as investors look ahead to euro zone growth and employment data for the first quarter, and remain focused on concerns over rising inflation.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was up 0.6% with most sectors in positive territory apart from Oil and Gas, Chemicals, Industrials, Basic Resources and Autos.
Investors in Europe on Tuesday will be keeping an eye on data releases including revised euro zone gross domestic product (GDP) and employment figures for the first quarter.
TICKER COMPANY NAME PRICE CHANGE %CHANGE VOLUME
.FTSE FTSE 100 FTSE 7091.02 13.80 0.19 46484494
.GDAXI DAX DAX 15656.19 -20.96 -0.13 6175751
.FCHI CAC 40 Index CAC 6554.18 10.62 0.16 5323834
Globally, investors around the world remain focused on the release of key U.S. inflation data on Thursday. In April, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 4.2% from the previous year, the fastest increase since 2008. Economists are expecting the CPI to have risen 4.7% in May from a year earlier, according to Dow Jones.
If Thursday’s data shows prices continuing to rise in May, traders fear that could cause the Federal Reserve to step back from its loose policies.
Taking a look at other global markets overnight, U.S. stock futures were flat in overnight trading Monday after the Dow and S&P 500 each started the week lower.
Shares in Asia-Pacific were mixed on Tuesday as investors reacted to the release of Japan’s revised first-quarter GDP figures that showed Japan’s economy shrank 3.9% in the first quarter, an improvement from the initial estimate of a 5.1% contraction. The revised gross domestic product compared against economists’ median forecast in a Reuters poll for a 4.8% contraction.
Other data releases in Europe Tuesday include Germany’s ZEW survey of economic sentiment for June, German industrial output for April and U.K. retail sales data for May. There are no major earnings reports.
