EU Stock Futures Higher; Market Optimism Higher

European stock markets opened higher on Tuesday, buoyed by positive signs towards further U.S. stimulus. Concerns over volatile retail-led trading subsided. 

The DAX futures contract in Germany traded 0.2% higher at 2 AM ET (0700 GMT). In France, the CAC 40 futures added 0.7%, and the FTSE 100 futures contract in the U.K. advanced 0.5%.

On late Monday, U.S. President Joe Biden met with a group of ten Republican senators. They discussed their proposal of a scaled-back COVID-19 stimulus package, in a welcome sign of bipartisan cooperation in Washington.

With that, Biden insisted on keeping the $1.9 trillion price tag that he proposed in January. He said that the downsized effort does not go far enough to solve the coronavirus crisis. 

Senior Democrats later filed a joint $1.9 trillion budget measure. This move was aimed at bypassing Republicans.

Signs that this package may be shortly delivered helped global markets. It lifted hopes that economic recovery is now almost within reach. 

Despite the slow start in continental Europe, vaccination rollouts continue. Moreover, in response to lockdowns, new infections and fatalities are starting slowly to decline.

Indications suggest that the recent market turmoil may be settling down. It was due to the retail traders taking on hedge funds over heavily-shorted stocks. This has added to the optimism.

Stocks on the Move

GameStop (NYSE: GME) shares slid 30% on Monday, and they have continued to fall in premarket trading on Tuesday. It was the stock that was at the heart of last week’s protest.

Silver also saw heavy buying on Monday. So far, it has dropped over 2% on Tuesday.

In Europe, the earnings season continues on Tuesday. In focus resulted from BP (NYSE: BP), Siemens Energy (DE: ENR1n), and Swedish telecommunications company Tele2 (ST: TEL2b). 

On the data front, the eurozone will publish preliminary Q4 growth numbers later Tuesday. They should confirm that the region’s economy shrunk over the year.

Oil prices pushed higher on Tuesday, lifted by reports that the major oil producers have shown restraint. This is in terms of production levels in January, even as prices rose.

Markets await U.S. crude oil supply data due later Tuesday from the American Petroleum Institute (API). This was especially after last week’s hefty draw. OPEC’s Joint Technical Committee is also due to discuss the state of the market. 

U.S. crude futures traded 1.1% higher at $54.15 a barrel. The international benchmark Brent contract climbed 1.1% to $56.98.