Stock Markets Steady Ahead of Central Bank Meetings

Stocks in Europe and U.S. futures were little changed Tuesday as investors held fire ahead of major central bank meetings this week and the latest wave of corporate earnings results in the U.S.

The Stoxx Europe 600 inched 0.1% lower in early trade, while futures markets pointed to a flat opening for the S&P 500 after Wall Street pulled back from record highs Monday.

Asian markets mostly gained with the exception of Japan's Nikkei Stock Average, which closed down 1.4% as a stronger yen weighed on exporters. The yen was recently 1.3% higher against the dollar after a report published Tuesday by the Nikkei business daily suggested an eagerly-awaited fiscal stimulus package from Tokyo may fall short of expectations. Economists expect the Bank of Japan to unveil more monetary easing at its meeting concluding Friday.

Investors will also be watching the Federal Reserve's policy meeting, which is scheduled to end Wednesday, for clues on whether the bank will raise interest rates in the coming months following a series of strong U.S. economic data.

The ICE Dollar Index was down 0.3% Tuesday after rising to its highest level Friday since early March. The index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, tends to rise on mounting expectations of rate rises.

Later Tuesday, investors will have a raft of U.S. corporate earnings to digest, including McDonald's Corp. and Caterpillar Inc., as well as Apple Inc. and Twitter Inc. after the closing bell.

Kenan Machado contributed to this article

Write to Christopher Whittall at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 26, 2016 04:15 ET (08:15 GMT)

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