European markets set to open lower as traders look ahead to central bank action

LONDON — European stocks are expected to open in lower territory on Tuesday, reversing gains seen at the start of the week.

The U.K.’s FTSE index is seen opening 0.25% lower, Germany’s DAX down 0.63%, France’s CAC 40down 0.37% and Italy’s FTSE MIB down 0.33%, according to data from IG.

Investors in Europe are gearing up for a busy week of central bank action.

The European Central Bank’s final policy meeting of the year takes place Thursday, and while the bank is expected to keep rates at 2%, ECB President Christine Lagarde said the central bank was likely to lift its growth forecasts again in December, after raising its prediction for annual GDP growth to 1.2% back in September.

The Bank of England, Riksbank, and Norges Bank will also hold their last monetary policy decisions for 2025 this week. It could be a close call, but the BOE is expected to trim interest rates. Eurozone and U.K. inflation figures are also out on Wednesday.

European leaders’ mettle will also be tested this week as they address funding for Ukraine at a summit in Brussels on Thursday, including the possible use ofbillions of frozen Russian assetsto underpin a 210-billion-euro loan ($246 billion) to Kyiv.

Asia-Pacific markets fell across the board overnight, tracking Wall Street declines as investors continued to rotate out of the artificial intelligence trade.

Stateside, stock futures traded near the flatline Monday night as traders anticipated the release of November’s jobs report.

Economists polled by Dow Jones predict that nonfarm payrolls grew by 50,000, down sharply from the119,000 jobs addedin September. They also see the unemployment rate coming in at 4.5%, compared to the rate of 4.4% in September. October’s retail sales report is also due.

— CNBC’s Pia Singh contributed to this market report.