European stocks looked set for a steady open Monday, even as fighting and bombings continue in cities around Ukraine.
Peace talks are scheduled to resume by video today, though Russia’s position on Crimea and Donbas remains unchanged.
Some European Union governments are pushing for the bloc to quickly impose new sanctions in response to multiple reports that Russian soldiers have carried out grave war crimes against civilians in areas they controlled.
Asian stocks were broadly higher, with markets in mainland China closed on Monday and Tuesday for holidays.
Gold prices were muted while the dollar and Treasury yields firmed up, as investors await minutes from the Federal Reserve’s March meeting and remarks from Fed officials this week for additional clues on inflation and interest-rate outlook.
Oil held steady after having fallen nearly 13 percent last week. Investors eyed the release of supplies from strategic reserves from consuming nations, while a truce in Yemen could ease supply disruption concerns in the Middle East.
U.S. stocks fluctuated before finishing modestly higher on Friday, as a key part of the part of the U.S. Treasury yield curve briefly inverted after the release of strong jobs data showing solid job gains in March and the unemployment rate falling to a new pandemic-era low.
The Dow rose 0.4 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 both edged up around 0.3 percent.
European markets closed higher on Friday, led by a rally in commodity-linked and bank stocks. The pan European Stoxx 600 advanced half a percent.
The German DAX edged up 0.2 percent, France’s CAC 40 index gained 0.4 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 added 0.3 percent.
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