European stocks gain after China rate cut; tech stocks lead the way

Investing.com - European stock markets traded higher Tuesday, with sentiment boosted by China's rate cut ahead of key U.S. inflation data and the start of the Federal Reserve’s latest policy-setting meeting.

At 03:45 ET (07:45 GMT), the DAX index in Germany traded 0.6% higher, the CAC 40 in France rose 0.8%, while the FTSE 100 in the U.K. traded 0.3% higher.

China rate cut boosts sentiment 

China’s central bank cut a short-term lending rate earlier Tuesday, in a bid to help a struggling post-COVID recovery in the world's second-largest economy, a key regional growth driver and major export market for many of Europe’s largest companies.

The cut to the seven-day reverse repo rate, the first time in 10 months, points to further more significant stimulus ahead in the face of persistently weak economic data.

This news has given European equities a lift as investors await a bombardment of economic data, including Spanish consumer prices and the German ZEW economic sentiment index, ahead of the start of the Federal Reserve’s two-day policy-setting meeting.

U.K. employment, German inflation data in focus

The U.K. unemployment rate rose 3.8% in April, an unexpected drop from 3.9% the prior month, but average earnings ex bonuses rose 7.2%, from a revised 6.8%, suggesting the Bank of England will still be under pressure to lift interest rates.

German consumer prices fell 0.1% on the month in May, with the annual figure climbing 6.1%, down from the 7.2% rise seen the previous month. 

This sign of prices stabilizing in the eurozone’s largest economy will be welcome news for officials at the European Central Bank, even if they are already largely committed to another interest rate hike on Thursday.

Fed starts two-day policy meeting

That said, it’s the U.S. central bank which will be in focus Tuesday as it starts its two-day policy get together later in the session. 

The Fed is widely expected to pause its year-long tightening cycle as officials assess the impact of the lifting interest rates to a 16-year high, but the release of the latest U.S. consumer inflation numbers could alter expectations.

The May CPI release is expected to show a rise of 4.1% over the year and 0.2% for the month, down from 4.9% and 0.4%, respectively in April. Core prices, which strip out volatile food and energy, are expected to rise 5.3% for the year and 0.4% for the month. 

Intel linked with Arm IPO investment

In corporate news, the tech sector was in the spotlight Tuesday following a report that chipmaker Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) is in talks with SoftBank (TYO:9984) to be an anchor investor in the initial public offering of the Japanese conglomerate’s Arm unit.

Embracer (ST:EMBRACb) stock rose 4% after the Swedish games group announced a restructuring plan to cut costs, while Hexagon (ST:HEXAb) stock rose 4.5% after the Swedish tech group announced a collaboration with the world's most valuable chip firm Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA).

OPEC monthly report due 

Oil prices edged higher Tuesday, recovering some of the previous session’s bruising losses on persistent concerns over the demand outlook in China and the U.S.

Both benchmarks dropped over 3.5% on Monday, falling to their lowest levels in almost three months, but traders have since readjusted their positions amid caution ahead of upcoming U.S. inflation data and the conclusion of a Federal Reserve meeting.

The latest monthly report from OPEC is due later in the session, and will provide more clues on how the group of oil producers see demand improving as the year continues.

By 03:45 ET, U.S. crude futures traded 0.9% higher at $67.75 a barrel, while the Brent contract climbed 1.2% to $72.72. 

Additionally, gold futures rose 0.4% to $1,976.80/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.4% higher at 1.0802.