The trend in European stock markets is toward equilibrium.

European bourses opened almost flat on Tuesday, ahead of an economically unloaded session, awaiting monetary policy from the Bank of Japan, which decided to leave its interest rates unchanged.

The Paris bourse began trading with a slight drop of 0.11%, Frankfurt started the session almost flat (+0.04%), as did London (-0.02%). Brussels has seen predominantly growth. The BEL 20 index rose 0.26% in early trading to end at 3729.94 points. The index is lifted by D'Ieteren, Melexis, UCB, Aedifica and Sofina, among others. All stocks mentioned are up at least 1%.

On Monday night, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced the formation of a coalition in the Red Sea to counter "unwise attacks" by Yemen's Houthi rebels from Yemen on maritime traffic, comprising 10 countries including France and Britain.

Tuesday, "given the stability in U.S.

markets, European stocks should start trading slightly higher," expects Michael Hewson, an analyst at CMC Markets. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones closed flat from the previous session, with the Nasdaq index up 0.61% and the broader S&P 500 index up 0.45%. "The S&P500 hit a new yearly high yesterday, while the Nasdaq 100 updated its record for the second consecutive session," comments Swissquote Bank analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya.

On the macroeconomic schedule, "the Bank of Japan's speech will be in the spotlight, along with Canadian inflation for November, as well as several U.S. real estate statistics," notes John Plassar, investment expert at Mirabaud.

The Bank of Japan (BoJ) announced Monday night into Tuesday that it has decided to maintain its negative short-term interest rate (-0.1% since 2016). "Governor Kazuo Ueda's conference will be riveting to learn the future intentions of the BoJ," comments Michael Hewson.

To access this article please connect to the internet.