European stocks may open on a subdued note Tuesday after recent strong gains and ahead of key earnings releases due this week.
Asian shares extended recent gains on hopes for U.S. economic growth, although overall gains remained muted after the Bank of Japan trimmed the size of its bond-repurchase offer in its latest market operation.
Investors are also closely watching developments from talks between delegates from North Korea and South Korea, the first such talks in two years to discuss how to improve their long-strained ties after a year of elevated tensions over the North's rapidly advancing nuclear and missile programs.
The dollar firmed up a little bit and oil approached its 2015 high once again while gold retreated further from last week's 3-1/2-month high on expectations of more U.S. rate hikes this year.
In economic releases, the report on jobs compiled by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation and IHS Markit showed that permanent job placements in the U.K grew at the fastest pace in four months in December.
Permanent staff placements increased at the quickest pace since August at the end of the year as agencies reported strong demand for staff. Growth of temporary billings remained sharp despite softening since November.
Separately, U.K. non-food product sales decreased the most in five years in the fourth quarter, the British Retail Consortium reported.
While food sales increased 2.6 percent on a like-for-like basis in the fourth quarter, in-store sales of non-food items declined 3.7 percent on a total basis and 4.4 percent on a like-for-like basis, the deepest since the records began in December 2012.
Industrial production and foreign trade figures from Germany and unemployment data from the euro area are slated to be released later in the day.
The U.S. economic calendar remains relatively quiet today ahead of the release of key reports on retail sales and producer and consumer prices later this week. Financial giants JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Wells Fargo (WFC) are due to report their quarterly results on Friday as the earnings season gets underway.
Overnight, U.S. stocks ended mixed as investors waited for cues from the upcoming earnings season. The Dow slid 0.1 percent, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.3 percent and the S&P 500 edged up 0.2 percent.
European markets closed mostly higher on Monday as Germany looked closer to forming a new government and readings on Eurozone investor confidence and retail sales topped expectations.
The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 0.3 percent. The German DAX gained 0.4 percent and France's CAC 40 added 0.3 percent while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 declined 0.4 percent as Prime Minister Theresa May launched her most extensive cabinet reshuffle.
by RTT Staff Writer
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