LONDON — European stocks are expected to open higher on Tuesday as positive new year momentum continues in global markets.

The U.K. FTSEIndex opens 18 points higher than its previous 7,434, Germany. DAXFrance, France has a 7-point higher score of 16,050 CAC 40 up 15 points at 7,244 and Italy’s FTSE MIBAccording to data from IG, it was 126 more points at 27,690.

European stocks began 2022 on Monday with a bang, and most regional indexes saw their shares rise on the first trading day.

There are still many uncertainties surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic. Many countries across the globe have placed restrictions on or locked down the spread of this highly contagious variant. Key themes in 2022 will be inflation and monetary policies. as investors expect the U.S. Federal Reserve to hike rates in the coming yearTo help consumers cool off the rising prices

U.S. stock futures were steady in overnight trading on Monday after the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 notched new record closes on the first trading day of 2022.

Meanwhile, shares in Asia-Pacific were mixed in Tuesday tradeData showed that China’s factory activity growth was accelerating in December.

Shares of debt-laden stocks are being watched carefully by investors China Evergrande GroupThe stock rose by more than 6% briefly after trade resumed following Monday’s halt. However, it then lost some of its gains. Evergrande announced Tuesday that it saw 443.02 billion yuan (about $67.67 billion) worth in contracted sales of properties in 2021 — a more than 30% plunge from 2020′s figure.

The data releases include the preliminary French inflation figures, Germany’s unemployment rates in December, and the most recent Portuguese consumer confidence data.

— CNBC’s Maggie Fitzgerald and Eustance Huang contributed to this market report.