European stocks flat, oil drops as midterm caution prevails
Markets face a crucial week as investors assess the latest Federal Reserve and European Central Bank policy decisions, corporate earnings and Tuesday’s US midterm elections.
European stocks remained largely flat on Monday as investors remained cautious ahead of the US midterm elections. Oil prices experienced a sharp decline, providing a slight boost to sentiment amid hopes for a resolution to the Iran conflict. Investors are closely watching key data and earnings reports, including Apple's upcoming earnings, while also digesting the latest policy decisions from the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank.
MSCI's global stocks index remained roughly unchanged, while the STOXX 600 European index saw a marginal gain of 0.05%. Tech stocks showed some resilience, with the .SX8P index rising by 0.40%. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 futures also saw slight increases, with gains of 0.76% and 0.34% respectively. However, the S&P 500 index itself experienced a decline of 1.82% on Friday, and the Nasdaq had a more significant drop of 2.86%.
Markets remain uncertain, with concerns over the impact of the US midterm results on corporate taxes and AI regulation.
Written by urgent.news from Free Malaysia Today's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
