Investing.com - European stock markets are expected to open lower Tuesday, as investors fretted on the prospect for a period of elevated interest rates, creating economic uncertainty.
At 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT), the DAX futures contract in Germany traded 0.4% lower, CAC 40 futures in France dropped 0.3% and the FTSE 100 futures contract in the U.K. fell 0.3%.
ECB to delay rate cuts?
The U.S. Federal Reserve’s hawkish tilt, at its policy meeting last week, continues to reverberate around the global markets, as the yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes rose to levels not seen since October 2007.
This has had repercussions in Europe, with Germany’s 10-year bond yield hitting its highest point since 2011, while eurozone yields more widely also increased.
The European Central Bank hinted at a pause in its tightening cycle when it hiked interest rates earlier this month, but President Christine Lagarde seemingly implied, during a speech on Monday, it would be some time before the central bank started cutting interest rates as inflation remains above its medium-term target.
"We consider that our policy rates have reached levels that, maintained for a sufficiently long duration, will make a substantial contribution to the timely return of inflation to our target," Lagarde said.
ECB Chief Economist Philip Lane speaks at a conference later in the session, and his comments will be studied carefully, especially ahead of Friday’s release of the preliminary eurozone consumer inflation data for September.
Chinese property sector in focus
Elsewhere, concerns continue to mount over the Chinese economy, after Bloomberg reported that a unit of embattled property developer Evergrande has missed payments on some onshore bonds.
The property sector, a massive part of the Chinese economy, has suffered from a three-year cash crunch, weighing heavily on growth in the second largest economy in the world.
Additionally, rating agency Moody’s warned that a U.S. government shutdown would harm the country's credit, as a funding agreement remains unsigned as the Oct. 1 deadline draws nearer.
Fitch downgraded the U.S. by one notch a month ago on the back of a debt ceiling crisis, and Moody’s warning puts the country's last triple-A rating on the line.
Crude weakens ahead of key Chinese activity data
Oil prices edged lower Tuesday as renewed stress in China’s property market raised concerns about economic growth this year in the world’s largest crude importer.
Embattled developer China Evergrande (HK:3333) Group warned earlier this week that it was unable to issue new debt, putting the focus firmly on the release of key Chinese purchasing managers’ index data for September later in the week.
While PMI readings for August had shown some improvement in manufacturing activity, service sector growth declined through the month.
By 02:00 ET, the U.S. crude futures traded 0.5% lower at $89.23 a barrel, while the Brent contract dropped 0.5% to $91.38.
Additionally, gold futures fell 0.3% to $1,931.65/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.1% lower at 1.0584.