European Shares To Open On Mixed Note As China’s Annual Political Meeting Kicks Off

European stocks may open on a mixed note Monday as geopolitical worries persist.

Israel boycotted Gaza ceasefire talks in Cairo after Hamas failed to respond to its demand for a hostage list.

Asian markets traded mixed as investors awaited cues from China’s annual policy meeting where Beijing’s annual growth target and other key policies will be announced.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 surpassed the 40,000 mark for the first time after reports that the government is considering declaring an end to deflation.

The dollar steadied from recent losses in anticipation of more Fed cues.

This week’s trading is likely to be driven by a testimony by Fed Chair Jerome Powell and reaction to the release of the U.S. services PMI figures and the monthly jobs report.

Powell testifies Tuesday and Wednesday before House and Senate committees, a semi-annual exercise.

Gold consolidated near two-month highs while oil was largely unchanged after climbing over 2 percent to a four-month high on Friday amid rising tensions in the Red Sea and Middle East.

On Sunday, several OPEC+ members have announced extensions of oil output cuts into the second quarter to support the “stability and balance of oil markets”.

Investor confidence data from the euro area is due later in the day, headlining a light day for the European economic news.

The euro area investor confidence index is forecast to improve to -10.8 in March from -12.9 in February.

U.S. stocks closed higher on Friday as Dell reported strong Q4 earnings and weak manufacturing and consumer sentiment data sent 2-, 10- and 30-year Treasury yields to around three-week lows.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 jumped 1.1 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively to reach new record closing highs while the Dow edged up 0.2 percent.

European stocks ended Friday’s session broadly higher as data showed Eurozone inflation softened for the second straight month in February.

The pan European STOXX 600 gained 0.6 percent. The German DAX rose 0.3…