European stocks are seen opening sharply lower on Monday, with rate hike worries and the latest earnings news likely to keep investors on edge. <\/p>\n
Asian stock markets<\/span> fell the most in two weeks on concerns around rates and recession.<\/p>\n The euro was broadly steady after France President Emmanuel Macron comfortably defeated far-right rival Marine Le Pen on Sunday.<\/p>\n Gold prices hit over two-week low as the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield neared 3 percent amid bets for an increasingly aggressive and hawkish U.S. Federal Reserve approach to interest-rate rises. <\/p>\n Closer home, ECB policymakers are keen to end their bond purchases and raise interest rates as soon as July but certainly no later than September, Reuters reported citing sources.<\/p>\n Oil extended losses to hover near two-week lows on demand concerns as Covid-related deaths climbed in Shanghai. <\/p>\n Other commodities such as copper and iron ore fell on growth concerns, while soybean oil jumped after an Indonesian ban on palm oil export.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and defense chief Lloyd Austin meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv as the Russia-Ukraine war entered day 60 with evident damage and destruction across Ukraine. <\/p>\n U.S. stocks slumped on Friday to reach their worst levels in over a month amid renewed concerns about risks from interest rate hikes.<\/p>\n The Dow plummeted 2.8 percent to post its biggest single-day loss since October 2020, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite plunged 2.6 percent and the S&P 500 lost 2.8 percent.<\/p>\n European stocks also tumbled on Friday after hawkish comments from the Federal Reserve chief and worries that a spreading Covid-19 outbreak in China will weigh on global demand.<\/p>\n The pan European Stoxx 600 retreated 1.8 percent. The German DAX declined 2.5 percent, France’s CAC 40 index gave up 2 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 shed 1.4 percent. <\/p>\n