LONDON — European stocks are expected to open in positive territory but sentiment remains cautious amid the continuing spread of the omicron Covid variant.

United Kingdom’s FTSEIndex is opened 18 points higher at 7,257. Germany’s DAX 17 points higher at 15,632, France’s CAC 40 up 5 points at 6,949 and Italy’s FTSE MIBData from IG shows that 26586, which is 20 points, was the highest at 26,586

European stocks fell Monday due to traders reacting to developments regarding the Omicron Covid variation. Yesterday, Boris Johnson, the U.K. Prime Minster confirmed that at least one patient infected with the new omicron variant of Covid-19 has died in the country.

Mainland China reported its first case of the omicron Covid variantMonday at Tianjin (about two hours from Beijing),

Investors pay attention to central bank action this week, with the U.S. Federal Reserve (the Bank of Japan), the Bank of England (the Bank of England) and the European Central Bank all set to announce their monetary policies.

Two-day Federal Reserve policy meeting starts Tuesday. Policymakers will discuss how to speed up its end-of-bond-buying program.

This meeting is being held as the inflation data released on Friday. came in at 6.8% in November year over year for the biggest surge since 1982. This print was slightly higher than the Dow Jones 6.7% estimate.

U.S. stock index futuresOvernight trading on Monday was very quiet after major averages opened the week in red. This is because of Covid Omicron worries. Futures contracts linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 45 points. S&P 500 futures were up 0.11%, while Nasdaq 100 futures were 0.08% higher.

In Asia-Pacific marketsChinese stocks fell overnight following losses elsewhere in the region. However, the omicron currency variant was brought back to center stage. After some overnight losses, bitcoin prices plunged further.

Ocado releases earnings data on Tuesday. Data includes U.K. employment figures and Euro zone industrial production figures.

— CNBC’s Pippa Stevens and Weizhen Tan contributed to this report.