© Reuters.
By Peter Nurse
Investing.com – European stock markets edged higher Tuesday, rebounding after the previous session’s plunge, but concerns remain that aggressive monetary tightening will stunt economic growth in the region.
By 3:50 AM ET (0750 GMT), the in Germany traded 0.8% higher, the in France rose 0.3%, and the UK’s climbed 0.5%.
European equities closed sharply lower Monday, following the global trend after last week’s hot report nixed hopes that price rises were peaking. This was seen increasing the chances that the , which announces its latest rate decision on Wednesday, will continue its aggressive monetary tightening for longer than already priced in.
The confirmed late last week that it intends to start its rate hiking cycle in July, and suggested that another increase in September will depend on the inflation data over the summer.
rose 0.9% on the month in May, data showed Tuesday, after a gain of 0.8% the previous month. The also climbed to 7.9%, from 7.4% in April, suggesting that the ECB has its work cut out controlling inflation in the Eurozone’s largest economy.
The also meets on Thursday, and is expected to continue its cycle of rate hikes despite Monday’s data showing a contraction in the country’s in April.
Data released Tuesday showed that the U.K. rose in May as the number of people claiming unemployment benefits fell by less than expected, despite continued gains in overall employment levels.
The Office for National Statistics said that the fell by 19,700, while the jobless rate rose to 3.8% of the population.
Other data due for release Tuesday includes data for April and of economic sentiment for June.
In corporate news, Atos (EPA:) stock slumped 20% after the French IT company announced that Chief Executive Rodolphe Belmer, who started his job only in January, will leave following weeks of reports of deep divisions with the board over strategy.
Elsewhere, the U.K. and the European Union are heading for another after the U.K. government published a plan on Monday, providing ministers with the power to unilaterally rewrite the bulk of the Northern Ireland protocol.
Oil prices stabilized Tuesday as traders continued to digest new COVID cases in China and the prospect of further U.S. monetary tightening weighing on global growth.
Attention later in the session is likely to focus on the release of the weekly U.S. inventory data from the industry body , ahead of Wednesday’s official numbers from the U.S. , for clues on how tight crude and fuel supply remain in the world’s largest consumer.
By 3:50 AM ET, futures traded 0.9% higher at $121.97 a barrel, while the contract rose 0.9% to $123.34.
Additionally, fell 0.1% to $1,830.15/oz, while traded 0.6% higher at 1.0470.
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