European Shares Poised For Weak Open

European stocks are seen opening lower on Wednesday as investors fret about slowing growth due to the spread of COVID-19 variants and the slow rollout of vaccines.

Asian shares hovered just off six-week highs while the dollar held near a one-week high amid rising U.S. Treasury yields, as investors waited to see whether the European Central Bank will begin to scale back its bond purchase program on Thursday.

Japanese shares traded a tad higher after data showed the country’s economy grew faster than the initially estimated in the April-June quarter.

Closer home, foreign trade and current account figures are due from France later in the day. The current account deficit is seen widening to EUR 1.4 billion in July from EUR 0.5 billion in June.

Crude oil steadied after a two-day declines as producers in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico struggled to restart operations nine days after Hurricane Ida swept through.

Gold steadied after slipping 1.6 percent in the previous session to breach the key psychological level of $1,800 per ounce.

U.S. stocks ended mixed overnight as worries that the economic recovery is faltering were offset by expectations that the Federal Reserve may delay tapering asset purchases.

The Dow shed 0.8 percent and the S&P 500 eased 0.3 percent as traders returned from a long weekend. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite edged up marginally to close at a fresh record high.

European stocks ended lower on Tuesday as investors pondered the impact of COVID-19 and rising inflation on growth.

The pan European Stoxx 600 declined half a percent. The German DAX gave up 0.6 percent, France’s CAC 40 index eased 0.3 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 dropped half a percent.

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