LONDON — European stocks opened lower on Tuesday, following a more positive session at the start of the week.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 was down 0.19% in opening deals, as most sectors and major bourses slipped into the red.
The more negative picture for European stocks today comes after regional markets closed higher on Monday, shrugging off last week’s negative sentiment.
There was positive sentiment in Asia-Pacific markets overnight, following gains on Wall Street that saw both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite rebound from their worst week of the year.
Investors are largely looking ahead to next week’s meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve where an interest rate cut is widely anticipated. There are hopes a cut at the meeting on Sept. 17-18 will assuage concerns about a weakening economy.
U.K. unemployment eased to 4.1% in May to July 2024, while annual growth in regular employee earnings fell to 5.1% over the same period, data from the Office for National Statistics showed.
Richard Carter, head of fixed interest research at Quilter Cheviot, said the persistence of wage growth could give the Bank of England pause for thought when it meets to make its policy decision next week.
“Though wage growth is coming down, it remains significantly higher than the Bank’s 2% inflation target. In real terms, average regular earnings are rising by 2.9%. While this may help buoy consumer confidence, it will still be of some concern to the BoE,” Carter said in a note.
Italy’s latest industrial production print is also due out on Tuesday.