European Stock Futures Lower; Global Selloff Continues By Investing.com – Investing.com

European Stock Futures Lower; Global Selloff Continues By Investing.com – Investing.com

© Reuters.

By Peter Nurse 

Investing.com - European stock markets are seen opening lower Wednesday, continuing the recent global selloff as surging commodity prices and growing inflationary pressure in the United States stoke concerns of early rate hikes.

At 2:05 AM ET (0705 GMT), the contract in Germany traded 0.4% lower, in France dropped 0.7% and the contract in the U.K. fell 0.4%. 

The blue-chip closed 1.4%, or almost 500 points, lower Tuesday, its worst day since February, while Asia has largely followed suit, with both Japan’s and South Korea’s down 1.6%.

Economic data released on Tuesday showed at U.S. companies jumped to a record high in March, suggesting the labor supply is not keeping up with surging demand as employers scramble to find qualified workers. This points to increasing wage inflation going forward.

Investors will thus be keeping a close eye on the U.S. for April, due at 8:30 AM ET (1230 GMT), which is expected to grow 0.2% from the previous month, a 3.6% jump from last year. 

While the year-over-year reading will be distorted by base effects from last year's pandemic-induced plunge in energy prices, such a jump