European stocks may edge lower on Wednesday, paring yesterday's strong gains, after European Union officials failed to reach an agreement on a second Greek rescue plan till late Tuesday.
A 24-hour nationwide strike by workers in Greece is set to cripple public services later in the day to protest against a new batch of brutal government budget cuts agreed by the government with the EU and IMF to secure a new bailout.
The euro snapped two days of gains against the dollar and crude oil futures lost ground after climbing over $2 a barrel overnight, while the Dow futures are declining 32 points.
The Dow index rose a percent, the Nasdaq added 1.5 percent and the S&P 500 ended up 1.3 percent overnight, as positive economic data prompted investors to indulge in some hectic buying following recent weakness in the markets.
The markets across Asia are mixed, with Australia, Hong Kong, China and India in the red, while Japan, Singapore, New Zealand and South Korea are posting modest gains. China's Shanghai Composite is declining 0.7 percent after the nation's central bank unexpectedly raised banks' required reserve ratio again to tame inflation which is running at a 34-month high of 5.5 percent in May.
On the macroeconomic front, confidence among British consumers surged in May to its highest level since November 2005, backed by the "feel-good factor" of extra holidays and the Royal Wedding as well as the warm weather, according to a monthly survey from Nationwide. The leading barometer of morale on the British high street jumped to 55 in May from the revised reading of 44 in April - well above forecasts for a score of 45.
Meanwhile, France's harmonized index of consumer prices rose 2.2 percent year-over-year in May, the same rate of increase as seen in April, the statistical office Insee said, matching the consensus forecast.
Claimant count from the U.K. and industrial production from Eurozone are the other major statistical reports due in the European session.
In corporate news, Moody's Investors Service placed France's top three banks, BNP Paribas , Societe Generale and Credit Agricole, on review for a possible downgrade, citing the banks' direct or indirect exposures to the Greek economy.
German utility RWE AG has agreed in principle to sell almost 75 percent of its power-grid unit Amprion to Commerzbank AG, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter.
Graphit Kropfmuhl AG on Tuesday raised its turnover forecast for the total year 2011 to more than EUR110 million.
Frankfurt Airport, owned and managed by Fraport AG, reported that its passenger traffic grew 5.8 percent from a year earlier to 5.04 million passengers in May.
Fiat and Chrysler Group LLC CEO Sergio Marchionne said an initial public offering for Chrysler is the easiest option, rather than Fiat buying the stake, but suggested this might not happen before 2012.
Rio Tinto said it is accelerating its iron ore expansion program in the Pilbara region of Western Australia with $676 million of funding for early works and procurement.
Zurich Financial Services AG announced that one of its non-core subsidiaries in the U.K., Zurich Specialties London, will transfer its run off insurance business to Swiss Re at book value.
European stocks rallied on Tuesday, extending a modest comeback from the previous session, as encouraging Chinese economic data and a better-than-expected report on U.S. retail sales soothed fears about the global economy.
The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks climbed 1.7 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, rose 0.8 percent. The German DAX gained 1.7 percent, France's CAC 40 added 1.5 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 closed up half a percent.
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