Apr 12, 2022 02:01AM ET
By: AnalysisWatch
European stock markets are expected to open weaker on Tuesday as investors are cautious ahead of the release of key economic data while the ongoing Ukraine conflict threatens to intensify.
At 2:05 AM ET, the DAX futures contract in Germany was trading 0.7% lower, the CAC 40 futures contract in France was down 2.9%, and the FTSE 100 futures contract in the U.K. was down 0.7%.
Global stock markets have struggled recently amid fears that rising inflation could prompt central banks to tighten monetary policy sharply, hurting economic growth.
The European Central Bank will hold its latest monetary policy meeting on Thursday, and ahead of that meeting, German consumer price inflation for March was announced on Tuesday at 2.5% month-on-month, a massive 7.3% year-on-year increase.
The corresponding U.S. inflation figures are expected later in the session, and investors are anticipating the highest price increase in four decades. This will be the last time the Federal Reserve receives official consumer price index data before its May meeting.
Data released Monday showed the U.K. unemployment rate fell to 3.8% in February from 3.9% the previous month, while the number of claimants fell by 46,900 in March.
Also of interest later in the session will be the German ZEW economic index, which is expected to show a drop in confidence in the eurozone's largest economy in April, with the war in Ukraine playing a role.
The conflict in Ukraine is expected to intensify as Russia is reportedly gathering troops in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas for a new attack on the port city of Mariupol. By capturing this city, Moscow could attempt to encircle key Ukrainian forces in the east.
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