European stocks are predicted to have a steady to slightly increased opening on Wednesday, due to a packed economic schedule. Fed Chair, Jerome Powell's congressional testimony is anticipated to be the center of attention today, accompanied by reports on U.S. private sector employment, job openings, and the Fed's Beige Book. Powell is set to testify to the House Financial Services Committee later today, as well as Thursday's Senate Banking Committee.
In the meantime, British finance minister, Jeremy Hunt, is set to present his 2024 Budget today, amid speculation that he might introduce tax cuts for households. Eurozone retail sales data and German trade balance figures will also be under close watch as the day progresses. The European Central Bank convenes on Thursday with a decision to cut interest rates likely to be deferred until June.
Asian markets experienced modest increases, with the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong surging nearly 2 percent, as investors wait for policy support details from the National People's Congress this week. Gold remained steady near record highs, boosted by increasing expectations of a potential interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve in June.
The dollar held strong while oil saw a slight rise after two days of losses due to worries about demand growth in China, the world's main crude importer. U.S. stocks took a significant hit overnight, continuing losses from the previous session as investors absorbed weak economic data and awaited Powell's testimony for future direction.
U.S. services industry growth experienced a slight slump in February and newly ordered manufactured goods fell beyond expectations in January, causing concerns about the health of the world's largest economy. The tech-dominated Nasdaq Composite plummeted 1.7 percent, marking its worst single-day loss in three weeks. Simultaneously, both the S&P 500 and the Dow lost around 1 percent each.
European stocks concluded lower on Tuesday due to concerns about China, which overshadowed positive business activity data that displayed signs of recovery in the Eurozone last month. The Pan European STOXX 600 lost 0.2 percent, the German DAX took a 0.1 percent hit and France's CAC 40 saw a 0.3 percent drop. However, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended slightly higher.
