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Investing.com – European stock markets are seen opening mixed Tuesday, as investors attempt to balance Brexit uncertainty and coronavirus-inspired lockdowns against an upcoming vaccine rollout and likely monetary and fiscal stimulus.
At 2:05 AM ET (0705 GMT), the DAX futures contract in Germany traded 0.1% higher, CAC 40 futures in France dropped 0.3% and the FTSE 100 futures contract in the U.K. fell 0.4%.
U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson will travel to Brussels for crisis talks with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen later Tuesday as negotiations over a post-Brexit trade deal threaten to collapse amid continued differences over fishing rights, fair competition and ways to solve future disputes.
EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier reportedly admitted in an update to EU leaders late Monday that a deal continues to hang in the balance and set a new deadline of Wednesday to conclude talks.
Adding to the worries is the impact of the winter surge of the Covid-19 virus, as a sharp rise in coronavirus cases has led to a string of renewed lockdowns, including strict measures in the U.S. state of California as well as Germany and South Korea.
However, help is on the way. The U.K. starts vaccinating its public with the Pfizer/BioNTech injection Tuesday. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration meets to discuss this vaccine on Thursday, while the European authorities are expected to authorise its rollout by the end of the month.
Additionally, the European Central Bank holds its latest policy-setting meeting on Thursday, with the central bank widely expected to increase and extend its pandemic bond-buying program.
On Capitol Hill, Republican and Democratic negotiators continue to try to reach an agreement on a Covid-19 relief package, with last week’s weak payrolls data adding a degree of immediacy.
Oil prices slipped Tuesday as traders looked to balance positions on the back of recent gains and with a sharp rise in coronavirus cases leading to a string of renewed lockdowns globally.
Data due from the American Petroleum Institute later Tuesday and from the U.S. government on Wednesday are expected to show that U.S. crude stocks fell last week.
U.S. crude futures traded 1.1% lower at $45.25 a barrel, while the international benchmark Brent contract fell 1.2% to $48.20. Both benchmarks lost around 1% Monday, but this followed five consecutive weeks of gains.
Elsewhere, gold futures rose 0.2% to $1,869.75/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.1% higher at 1.2112.
