European stocks are likely to open mixed on Tuesday as the dollar held steady near a recent two-week high versus a basket of major currencies and Brent crude oil prices jumped above $65 per barrel after the closure of a major North Sea pipeline for repair.
Asian markets, however, are trading mostly lower as investors adopted a cautious stance after several days of advances.
Markets await cues from key central bank meetings due this week as well as the outcome of a major annual economic planning conference in Beijing that will set policy priorities for the next 12 months.
The Federal Reserve is widely expected to lift short-term interest rates by 25 basis points at its two-day policy meeting ending on Wednesday.
Other major central banks, including the European Central Bank, Bank of England and the Swiss National Bank will announce their policy decisions on Thursday.
The day's economic calendar remains light, with consumer and producer price figures from the U.K. and Germany's ZEW economic confidence survey results slated to be released later in the day.
Overnight, U.S. stocks closed modestly higher as healthcare and energy companies rose, offsetting losses among banks and industrial stocks.
The Dow inched up 0.2 percent and the S&P 500 added 0.3 percent to reach fresh record closing highs while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite advanced half a percent.
European markets ended Monday's session on a mixed note as technology stocks continued their recent struggles, while bank stocks extended recent gains after the Basel III announcement last week.
The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index closed little changed with a negative bias. The German DAX and France's CAC 40 index both slid about 0.2 percent while the U.K. FTSE 100 advanced 0.8 percent.
by RTT Staff Writer
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