Peter Nurse 

Investing.com – European stock markets are expected to open marginally higher Tuesday, rebounding to a degree after the previous session’s selloff, but investors continue to fret over the combination of rising interest rates and lower economic growth.

At 2AM ET (0600 GMT), Germany’s contract traded 0.8% higher while France’s contract rose 0.8%. The U.K contract rose 0.6%.

European stocks fell Monday as the,. and. all closed over 2% higher and the pan European index dropped to two-month highs. The global trend is downward in these markets as central banks raise inflation-fighting interest rates, causing rising fears about recession.

Although the European market may see some improvement Tuesday, the British Retail Consortium released an earlier session that showed how serious the U.K. slowdown.

According to the data, U.K. retail sales declined 0.3% from last year and was the lowest level since January 2021 during lockdown.

Now, attention will turn to Germany’s release later in the session. It is anticipated that it has dropped from the level at which it was first reported in 2020 to a new low in April.

Russia’s invasion on Ukraine remains another source of market tension. While Russian President Vladimir Putin was quiet about his plans to escalate tension in Ukraine Monday, he celebrated the victory of the Soviet Union over Nazi Germany during World War II. But the fighting is not stopping.

Corporate news: Bayer, an agricultural and pharmaceuticals company, experienced strong growth in its quarterly core earnings due to strong gains in its seeds- and pesticides businesses. More numbers can be attributed to Pirelli (BIT) and Munich Re (ETR) as well.

Renault (EPA:), will be also in the spotlight after French carmaker EPA announced it plans to sell just under a quarter of its Korea unit (HK:), for around $200 million. It is freeing funds up to invest into its core markets, as well as its electric business.

Oil prices dropped Tuesday, extending the previous session’s declines as it appears the European Union will soften its stance on a phased Russian oil embargo as the  countries most dependent on Russian energy, like landlocked Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic, have sought exemptions.

Markets were boosted by the European Commission’s proposal last week to finally ban Russian oil. But, it requires the approval of all 27 EU members, which is difficult.

This has added to fears that growing recession risks will hit the outlook for global demand, especially given China’s ongoing COVID lockdowns. 

Futures were trading at $101.91 per barrel by 2AM ET. Contracts fell 1.2%, to $104.69. On Monday, both benchmarks saw their largest daily percentage drop since March. They fell by 5% and 6%.

The price of gold rose 0.3% to $1863.74/oz while it traded 0.2% lower at 1.0577