European shares are seen opening lower Tuesday as lingering fears of the euro zone’s debt crisis continues to cap investor confidence.
Close-up of a pen on stock price chart
The FTSE 100 is seen starting the trading day lower by 0.4 percent, the DAX is seen down by 0.2 percent and the CAC is called lower by just 0.14 percent.
Spain’s borrowing costs on its 10-year bonds passed the 6 percent mark for the first time since December on Monday as concerns about the country’s ability to repay its debts were heightened after it confirmed it was probably in recession.
Markets will be watching closely as the country tenders up to $3 billion euros in 12 and 18-month bills at 9:30 London time.
Billionaire investor George Soros warned on Monday that the euro crisis was worsening and policy makers had prescribed the wrong medicine.
In the United States, U.S Federal Reserve St Louis President James Bullard said interest rates could go up next year as the economic recovery is expected to continue.
The race for the White House could be tight as a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed that Mitt Romney, the probable Republican candidate has narrowed the gap with President Barack Obama.
The announcement that the World Bank President was another American – Korean born Jim Yong Kim - came as no surprise but continued to frustrate emerging nations who had been eager to loosen Washington’s grip on the position.
Earnings season gets into full swing on Tuesday with a raft of big-name companies reporting numbers.
In the UK luxury goods retailer Burberryand high street heavyweight M&S report.
Earlier, Miner Rio Tinto reported a 10 percent drop in attributable iron ore production in the first quarter.
In France luxury retailers LVMH and Christian Dior both report figures for the first quarter, as will Danone and Eurostar.
In the U.S., big names reporting first quarter numbers include Coca-Cola , Goldman Sachs and Johnson & Johnson .
Technology titans IBM and Intel will report numbers after the bell along with Yahoo .