FX.co ★ European Shares To Open On Mixed Note As China's Annual Political Meeting Kicks Off

European stocks are poised to start Monday with mixed numbers due to continuing geopolitical tensions. Following Hamas' lack of response towards Israel's hostage list demands, Israel abstained from Gaza ceasefire talks in Cairo.

Investors expect clues regarding Beijing's annual growth target and key policies, as the annual Chinese policy meeting approaches, leading to fluctuating markets in Asia. Japan's Nikkei 225 benchmark surpassed the noteworthy 40,000 mark for the first time following reports of the government considering to declare a halt to deflation.

The dollar maintained its value from recent losses as they wait for more hints from the Federal Reserve. Trading activities for the week are predicted to be influenced by the testimony of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, the release of the U.S. service PMI figures, and the monthly jobs report. Powell is set to testify on Tuesday and Wednesday before House and Senate committees, as part of a bi-annual routine.

While gold remains steady near its highest in two months, oil remains largely unchanged after its over 2% incline to a four-month high on Friday amid escalations in the Red Sea and Middle East. On Sunday, several OPEC+ members announced an extension of oil output cuts into Q2 to endorse the stability and balance of oil markets.

Data on investor confidence from the euro area is expected to be released later today, serving as the main highlight in the European economic news. It is predicted that the euro area investor confidence index would rise to -10.8 in March from -12.9 in February.

U.S. stocks had increased on Friday due to Dell's strong Q4 earnings report and less-than-ideal manufacturing and consumer sentiment data, causing 2, 10, and 30-year Treasury yields to decrease to around three-week lows. Both Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 leaped to new record closing highs with increases of 1.1%, and 0.8% respectively, while the Dow rose by 0.2%.

European stocks ended higher last Friday as data showed a decrease in Eurozone inflation for the second consecutive month in February. The pan-European STOXX 600 saw a 0.6% rise with the German DAX increasing by 0.3%. France's CAC 40 went up only slightly, whereas the U.K.'s FTSE 100 grew by 0.7%.