European Stock Futures Higher; Diplomacy Hopes, Central Bank Meetings in Focus
European stock markets are expected to open higher on Monday in hopes of a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine war at the start of a week dominated by major central bank meetings, including those of the Federal Reserve.
At 2 AM ET (0700 GMT), the DAX futures contract in Germany was up 2%, the CAC 40 futures in France were up 1%, and the FTSE 100 futures contract in the UK was up 0.7%.
The next round of talks on the war in Ukraine between the two principals is scheduled for early Monday, but the noise from the previous session was upbeat.
US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy R. Sherman said on Sunday that Russia was showing signs it might be ready to hold substantive talks, while Ukraine's negotiator Mykhailo Podolik said Russia was "starting to talk constructively."
That said, despite the optimistic tone, the fight continued on Sunday with Russia launching destructive bombings on a large Ukrainian base near the border with NATO member Poland.
Away from events in Eastern Europe, the focus will be on policy-making meetings of several major central banks this week.
The Federal Reserve is widely expected to announce its first interest rate hike since 2018 on Wednesday as policymakers try to balance the twin threats of inflation, which is hitting a four-decade high, and Economic uncertainty arising from the war in Ukraine.
The Bank of England is also expected to raise rates again this week, while central banks in Japan, Turkey and Brazil will also hold meetings.
Back in Europe, eurozone finance ministers are set to meet later on Monday to discuss possible support for the region's economy, given the risk to growth in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine as it recovers from the pandemic. begins to recover.
In corporate news, Telecom Italia (MI:TLIT) headlines after Italy's largest phone conglomerate said on Sunday it would begin formal talks with KKR & Co (NYSE:KKR). To assess the private equity giant's potential offering, nearly four months after the outlook.
Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGN) was told by the German lender on Friday that it would close its business in Russia, changing its stance after criticism over its current ties.
Oil prices weakened on Monday, extending last week's fall on hopes of progress in diplomatic efforts to end the Ukraine war, as well as traders flocked to higher US interest rates and thus the prospect of a stronger dollar.
As of 2AM ET, US crude futures were trading down 2.7% at $106.33 a barrel, while the Brent contract fell 2.4% to $109.97.
Both contracts have increased since Russia's February 24 invasion of Ukraine, both last week reaching their highest level since 2008. However, US crude was still down 5.7% weekly, while Brent was down 4.8% last week.
Additionally, gold futures fell 0.2% to $1,981.45 an ounce, while EUR/USD was trading 0.1% higher at 1.0912.
