European markets opened lower on Tuesday ahead of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's congressional testimony due on Tuesday and Wednesday. In Europe, similarly to investors in the US, market participants will be watching what Powell has to say, hoping to decipher the central bank's next rate hike moves.
In other news, before the opening, Germany's Federal Statistical Office Destatis announced that factory orders rose 1% in January, while, on the other side, UK annual house prices increased by 2.1% in February.
At 9:01 am CET, the CAC 40 fell 0.25%, while Worldline SA decreased by 1.16%. At the same time, the FTSE 100 was flat, as Tui dropped by 2.69%, and the pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 dropped by 0.25%, with Prosus down by 1.41%. At 9:04 am CET, the DAX lost 0.09%, with Covestro descending by 3.25%.
As for currencies, two minutes before the market opening, the euro and the British pound advanced by 0.11% and 0.30% against the dollar, selling for $1.06894 and $1.20540 simultaneously.
