European stocks close slightly lower as markets look ahead to Fed meeting (2024)

European stocks closed slightly lower on Monday, with the Stoxx 600 index down 0.1%.

Germany's DAX was flat while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 and France's CAC 40 fell by 0.06% and 0.2%, respectively.

Stoxx 600 index.

Markets will be looking past what the Federal Reserve does at its meeting this week and thinking more about what the future holds, according to Chris Larkin, the managing director of trading and investing at ETrade from Morgan Stanley.

"No one expects a rate cut on Wednesday, but after last week's double-dose of hot inflation data, everyone will be wondering whether the Fed is rethinking a June cut," Larkin said Monday.

Noting that the S&P 500 broke a record high for the ninth straight week, Larkin expects that "the market will need to like what it sees in the Fed's statement on Wednesday, and get confirmation from (Fed Chair) Jerome Powell that two months of sticky inflation numbers won't derail the Fed's game plan."

Futures market pricing is pointing to the first rate cut coming no sooner than June.

—Jeff Cox

U.S. stocks moved higher on Monday morning, led by gains in Nvidia, as Wall Street awaited a key artificial intelligence conference.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped 1.6% in morning trade, while the S&P 500 rose 1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was also 0.3% higher.

— Karen Gilchrist

The Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank look poised to make "major progress" in cutting interest rates this year, according to the central bank of central banks.

Agustín Carstens, general manager of the Bank for International Settlements, told CNBC on Monday that major central banks had so far made "very impressive advances" in lowering inflation and suggested that they could soon shift toward a looser monetary policy stance.

"If everything goes fine, I think that, certainly this year, we will see major progress, especially toward the second part of the year," Carstens told Annette Weisbach.

— Karen Gilchrist

Shares of Reckitt Benckiser rose 5.7% in early trade, recovering some losses from the previous session, when the stock hit its lowest level in a decade after a damaging U.S. lawsuit over its Enfamil baby formula.

French rail operator Alstom also climbed 6.4% after announcing that it plans to operate a new passenger train service in the U.K.

On the other end, British insurance firm Phoenix Group fell 4.5% after saying that it would set aside £70 million ($89 million) to cover the cost of reducing customer charges.

— Karen Gilchrist

In the next decade, companies using technology to disrupt sectors will likely be favored, according to UBS.

The "next big thing" in tech will come from sectors such as enabling tech — which includes artificial intelligence and cybersecurity — as well as healthtech, greentech and fintech, UBS said.

"Collectively, we see industry leaders for 2030 emerging from these sectors," said UBS in a March 14 report.

Here are some names from UBS' list and what it says about each stock. All are U.S.-listed.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Weizhen Tan

Japan's Nikkei 225 rose more than 2% on Monday, crossing the 39,000 mark for the first time in 10 days as manufacturing and health-care stocks powered the rally.

However, the largest gainer on the index was financial technology company Rakuten Group, which surged 7.38%.

Other names on the top gainers list include automaker Nissan which climbed over 6.5% , as well as pharmaceutical firm Chugai Pharmaceutical, which was up 4%.

The yen weakened by 0.18% on the back of the index's rally, trading at 149.29 against the greenback.

Crude oil futures fell slightly Friday but gained for the week after rising in the two previous sessions.

The West Texas Intermediate contract for April fell 22 cents, or 0.27%, to settle at $81.04 a barrel. The Brent contract for May lost 8 cents, or 0.09%, to settle at $85.34 a barrel.

U.S. crude and the global benchmark are up more than 3.5% week to date so far.

— Spencer Kimball

While chip darling Nvidia has grabbed headlines for its impressive stock performance, driven by excitement around artificial intelligence, an under-the-radar European company has quietly seen its shares nearly double in 2024.

The small-cap firm, with sales totaling 52 million euros ($56 million) in the first half of last year, recently bagged a €300 million contract. It also just had its 150 patents valued at $835 million.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Ganesh Rao

European markets are set to open lower Tuesday.

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index is expected to open 26 points lower at 7,698, Germany's DAX down 41 points at 17,896, France's CAC 13 points lower at 8,138 and Italy's FTSE MIB down 68 points at 33,347, according to data from IG.

There are no major earnings releases Monday. Germany's ZEW survey of economic sentiment for March is set to be published.

— Holly Ellyatt