By Peter Nurse
Investing.com - European stock markets are expected to open mixed Tuesday as German consumer confidence sees another drop while the summit of Group of Seven leaders continues.
At 2 AM ET (0600 GMT), the DAX futures contract in Germany traded 0.2% lower, while CAC 40 futures in France gained 0.1%, and the FTSE 100 futures contract in the U.K. rose 0.1%.
European equity indices have received a largely negative handover from the late close on Wall Street, with fears of a recession having increased as a number of central banks lift interest rates aggressively to combat rampant inflation.
This has weighed heavily on consumer sentiment, as shown by the latest GfK German consumer climate index. This fell to -27.4 in July from a revised -26.2 the previous month as shoppers in the Eurozone’s largest economy struggled with hefty price rises.
Elsewhere, the leaders of the Group of Seven major economies meet for the third day of their summit in Germany having pledged to stand with Ukraine "for as long as it takes" following Russia’s invasion.
The G7 leaders were ready to grant or had already pledged or provided up to $29.5 billion in 2022 to help Ukraine close its financing gap, according to a statement from the meeting on Monday.
Russian troops were accused on Tuesday of a missile strike on a shopping mall in central Ukraine which killed at least 18 people, an attack condemned by the United Nations and the West.
In corporate news, Volkswagen (ETR:VOWG_p) will be in the spotlight Tuesday after the Wall Street Journal reported that the German auto giant is close to selling a minority stake in its U.S. electric-vehicle charge business to an arm of Siemens (ETR:SIEGn).
Akzo Nobel (OTC:AKZOY) will also be in focus after the Dutch chemicals company named Gregoire Poux-Guillaume as its new chief executive, with effect from the beginning of November.
Oil prices rose Tuesday as a couple of major producers indicated output cuts, exacerbating supply tightness, while the G7 nations discussed increasing the pressure on Russia.
Both Libya and Ecuador signaled a potential reduction in global supply due to political difficulties in their respective countries. This comes ahead of this week’s meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, a group known as OPEC+, which is likely to result in moderate production increases.
Elsewhere, G7 leaders are discussing a proposal to cap the price of Russian oil, the latest move to limit Moscow's finances, but which could easily further increase the shortages in global oil and refined product markets.
By 2:05 AM ET, U.S. crude futures traded 1.1% higher at $110.78 a barrel, while the Brent contract rose 1.2% to $112.31.
Additionally, gold futures rose 0.1% to $1,826.60/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.1% lower at 1.0573.