The European markets may follow Asian stocks higher on Tuesday after China's GDP data for 2014 came broadly in line with expectations.
China's gross domestic product grew 7.4 percent last year, the slowest since 1990 but a tad higher than expectations for a 7.3 percent expansion, official data showed, helping ease worries of a more dramatic slowdown. Data on industrial output and retail sales for December also surpassed expectations, while fixed asset investment figures for 2014 came slightly lower than expectations.
The Asian markets are broadly higher, with Japan's Nikkei index climbing 2.1 percent as the yen weakened against the dollar ahead of policy meetings by the Bank of Japan and the European Central Bank.
China's Shanghai Composite index is rallying 1.1 percent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng is adding 0.6 percent and South Korea's Kospi average gained 0.8 percent, while Australian shares ended little changed, dragged down by energy stocks as crude prices resumed their slide on news that Iraq's oil production rose to a 35-year high in December.
In its latest "World Economic Outlook Update" released today, the International Monetary Fund lowered its global growth forecasts by 0.3 percentage points for both 2015 and 2016, saying that the positive effects of lower oil prices would be offset by markedly slower growth in China and stubborn economic anemia in the euro zone and Japan.
Also, IMF chief Christine Lagarde has warned of "consequences" if European countries try to renegotiate their debts, ahead of January 25 election in Greece, where opponents of the country's 240 billion euro bailout lead in the polls.
Meanwhile, ahead of the widely-expected launch of the European Central Bank's program of quantitative easing, Denmark's central bank has cut its key interest rate unexpectedly to prevent the krone from strengthening in the wake of Switzerland's decision last week to scrap the franc's peg to the euro.
In economic releases, German economic sentiment data is slated for release in the European session. Economists expect the economic sentiment index to rise to 40 in January from 34.9 in December. At the same time, the current conditions index is forecast to increase to 13 from 10 in the previous month.
Across the Atlantic, investors eye reports on homebuilder confidence, housing starts and existing home sales this week as trading resumes after a holiday on Monday for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
In domestic corporate news, European oil giant Royal Dutch Shell Plc. will sell a stake in one of its crude-producing projects in the Campos Basin to Brazilian oil and gas company HRT Participacoes em Petroleo SA, the Bloomberg reported, citing two people familiar with matter.
Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto Plc reported a 12 percent increase in global iron ore production for the fourth quarter, reflecting productivity improvements and the completion of ramp up of mining operations in the Pilbara region.
Business software maker SAP SE lowered its 2017 earnings target as it continues to push relentlessly toward a much more predictable business model.
Gemalto NV, a Dutch provider of digital security services, announced the deployment of prepaid EMV banking cards to complement Vodacom's m-pesa mobile wallet service in South Africa.
European stocks rose for a third day to hit a seven-year high on Monday, as investors bet the European Central Bank will launch a government bond-buying program this week to thwart a deflation threat and revive growth. The German DAX rose 0.7 percent, France's CAC 40 gained 0.4 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 added half a percent, while the SMI of Switzerland jumped 3.2 percent after posting its worst week since 2008.
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