The London skyline is seen from the Shard, the tallest building in the European Union, as the sun sets on March 28, 2017 in London, England.
Jack Taylor | Getty Images
LONDON — European stocks are set to open higher on Tuesday, continuing positive momentum built at the start of the week on the back of the region’s defense stocks.
The U.K.’s FTSE index is seen opening 0.31% higher, Germany’s DAX up 0.22%, France’s CAC 40 up 0.2% and Italy’s FTSE MIB 0.33% higher, according to data from IG.
European defense stocks were among the strong movers on Monday, with Thyssenkrupp gaining almost 7.9% by the end of the session following the spinout and IPO of its German warship manufacturer TKMS.
Hensoldt topped the STOXX 600 index, having added almost 8%, Renk gained around 6.7%, and Rheinmetall closed 5.9% higher after U.S. President Donald Trump had another tense meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy over the weekend regarding Ukrainian territory.
Third-quarter earnings season is kicking into gear this week with L’Oreal and Assa Abloy due to report Tuesday. There are no major data releases Tuesday.
Looking at global markets, U.S. stock futures were slightly higher overnight after Monday’s broad rally. Investors await a busy earnings week that could inform the trajectory of the markets, with Netflix and Coca-Cola set to report on Tuesday.
Elsewhere, Asia-Pacific markets traded higher overnight, with South Korea’s Kospi index jumping more than 2% to hit a sixth consecutive record high, building on a rally spurred by optimism around an impending trade deal with the U.S.
South Korean stocks have been on a roll since U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC in an exclusive interview Wednesday stateside that Washington was “about to finish up” trade negotiations with the Asian country.
— CNBC’s Nur Hikmah Md Ali, Hugh Leask and Pia Singh contributed to this market report.