By Peter Nurse
Investing.com - European stock markets are seen edging higher Monday, with investors keeping a wary eye on Covid-19 developments at the start of a week which includes a Federal Reserve meeting, a virtual Davos get together, an abundance of corporate earnings and key GDP figures.
At 2:05 AM ET (0705 GMT), the DAX futures contract in Germany traded 0.5% higher, CAC 40 futures in France climbed 0.4% and the FTSE 100 futures contract in the U.K. rose 0.3%.
Equity markets have posted healthy gains over the last few weeks on bets Covid-19 vaccines will start to reduce infection rates worldwide and on a stronger U.S. economic recovery under President Joe Biden.
However, the vaccine rollouts have been patchy, with Italy, for example, threatening legal action over the weekend against Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) and AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) over delays in deliveries of their vaccines.
Additionally, there are fears that these vaccines may not be as efficient at neutralizing new variants of the virus which appear to be behind the recent surge in cases.
That said, investors remain hopeful that the $1.9 trillion stimulus package proposed by President Biden will be passed by Congress soon, despite some opposition from Republican lawmakers.
Also, in the U.S., the Federal Reserve meets for its first policy meeting of 2021 on Tuesday, with the policy decision to be handed down on Wednesday.
Elsewhere, the World Economic Forum starts in a digital format later Monday, with European Central Bank Chief Economist Philip Lane among those scheduled to speak.
On the economic data front, Germany’s Ifo institute releases its business climate survey results for January later Monday, but the focus this week will be on GDP data from the likes of the U.S., France and Germany. These numbers will provide the first look on how these key economies performed in the fourth quarter, although Germany has already released preliminary data for 2020.
The U.S. corporate earnings season gets into full swing this week, with Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) reporting after the close Tuesday, followed by Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) and Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) a day later.
In Europe, Philips (AS:PHG) will be in the spotlight Monday after the Dutch conglomerate maintained its 2021 guidance as its fourth-quarter net profit rose, while Siemens Energy (DE:ENR1n) said its first quarter earnings came in better than expected.
In the U.K., online fashion groups Asos and Boohoo will draw attention after weekend reports that they are set to buy the online assets of failed High Street rivals Top Shop and Debenhams, respectively.
Oil prices edged higher Monday, rebounding from Friday’s losses on the back of a surprise rise in U.S. inventories by 4.4 million barrels in the week to Jan. 15, versus expectations for a small draw.
U.S. crude futures traded 0.5% higher at $52.55 a barrel, while the international benchmark Brent contract rose 0.5% to $55.50.
Elsewhere, gold futures fell 0.3% to $1,850.40/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.1% higher at 1.2176.