European stocks are seen opening higher on Monday after improving consumer sentiment data helped to assure investors of the recovery in the world's largest economy.
Following the slew of economic data released over the past week, the U.S. economic calendar for this week is relatively light, with traders likely to keep an eye on reports on new and existing home sales, durable goods orders and weekly jobless claims for further signs of a meaningful recovery.
Investors will also closely examine Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's testimony before the Joint Economic Committee of Congress on Wednesday for clues about his thinking on tightening the central bank's monetary policy.
Closer home, house prices in the U.K. climbed to their highest level on record in May, a survey by property website Rightmove showed. New sellers raised asking prices by 2.1 percent in May from a month earlier to a record GBP 249,841, while prices were 2.5 percent higher compared with May last year. Prices have increased for a fifth consecutive month, rising 9.1 percent year-to-date, the strongest price start to a year since 2004, Rightmove said.
Cyprus has relaxed restrictions further on foreign banks that were imposed after the debt-laden country sought the $30 billion bailout. Eight more foreign banks - the Bank of Beirut SAL, Banque SBA, Barclays Bank Plc,, Banque BEMO SAL, BBAC SAL, Credit Libanais SAL, Jordan Ahli Bank Plc. and Privatbank - have now been excluded from control on transactions with international customers.
Separately, ratings agency Fitch downgraded Slovenia's long-term foreign currency rating to "BBB +" from "A minus", citing a deterioration of the government's finances as the eurozone nation tries to fix problems related to non-performing loans of major lenders. The Fitch downgrade comes after Moody's recently downgraded Slovenia's government bond rating to "junk".
Asian stocks are trading mostly higher, with the markets in Hong Kong, Indonesia and Japan rising more than a percent each, after the Japanese government upgraded its assessment of the economy for the first time in two months, citing gradual improvement in exports and industrial output. South Korea's Kospi average is subdued due to geopolitical tensions after North Korea fired missiles over the weekend.
The yen edged higher against the dollar after Japanese Economy Minister Akira Amari said the currency's excessive strength has "corrected" and a further slide in the yen could "have a negative impact on people's lives."
In domestic corporate news, Danone announced two cooperation projects through joint ventures in China, where the French dairy giant would invest about 325 million euros ($417 million).
Danish drug maker Novo Nordisk A/S announced positive results from the first phase-3 trial with a long-acting FIX derivative, N9-GP, in the treatment of haemophilia B patients.
Troubled miner Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. Plc. has rejected a cash and stock offer from a consortium to own the remaining shares in the company, on the ground that the bid materially undervalues the copper producer.
European stocks closed higher on Friday, with banks and automakers among the strongest performers, after UBS upgraded its rating on global banks to "overweight" and data showed EU auto registrations increased in April. The German DAX rose 0.3 percent, the U.K's FTSE 100 advanced half a percent and France's CAC 40 gained 0.6 percent.
U.S. stocks rose on Friday, with the Dow and the S&P 500 reaching fresh record highs, as investors cheered upbeat economic reports on consumer sentiment and leading economic indicators as well as comments from Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Narayana Kocherlakota, who continued to make the case for an accommodative monetary policy. The Dow gained 0.8 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq and the S&P 500 added about a percent each.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.