European stocks seen lower amid concerns over US-China trade truce

European stocks are set to open lower Tuesday morning, amid rising doubts over whether the world’s two largest economies will be able to resolve their trade differences.

The FTSE 100 is seen 21 points lower at 7,041, the CAC is expected to open down around 30 points at 5,021, while the DAX is poised to start 73 points lower at 11,393, according to IG.

Market focus is largely attuned to global trade developments, after news of a temporary trade truce between the U.S. and China had sparked a global rally in equity markets in the previous session.

The political deal, agreed over a working dinner between President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping on Saturday evening, should see both sides hold off on imposing additional charges against each other’s goods in the short term.

However, confusion over the exact timing of the tariffs cease-fire soured investor sentiment overnight.

One White House official said a 90-day period to resolve lingering Sino-U.S. trade disagreements would start on December 1, Reuters reported, whereas White House Economic Adviser Larry Kudlow told reporters it would start from January 1.

In Asia, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares, excluding Japan, slipped 0.3 percent on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, oil prices continued to rise after surging more than 4 percent at the start of the trading week. The gains come ahead of a critical OPEC meeting on Thursday, with energy market participants widely expecting the influential oil cartel and its allies to orchestrate a fresh round of production cuts.

International benchmark Brent crude was trading at $62.17 a barrel at around 05:45 a.m. London time, up around 0.8 percent, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) stood at $53.36, more than 0.7 percent higher.

Source: CNBC