On Monday, the Fed's two vice presidents, Michael Barr and Philip Jefferson, said  that US interest rates will remain high for longer than expected due to the stubborn inflation seen in early 2024 

Investors are cautious ahead of the release of the U.S. Federal Reserve's meeting minutes on Wednesday. They are also awaiting insights from Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey and domestic CPI data.

In corporate news, Kingfisher, a European home improvement retailer, has upheld its annual profit forecast despite a 0.9% drop in underlying sales for Q1. The company expects adjusted pre-tax profit between £490 million and £550 million for 2024-2025, down from £568 million in the previous year. Q1 revenue rose by 0.3% to £3.3 billion. Sales in France fell by 5.3%, reflecting a weak retail market. Kingfisher remains cautious about the overall market outlook for 2024.

AstraZeneca aims to achieve $80 billion in annual revenue by 2030, a 75% increase from $45.81 billion in 2023. The pharmaceutical giant plans to bolster its oncology and rare disease portfolios and launch 20 new treatments by the end of the decade. It also aims to decouple carbon emissions from revenue growth, targeting carbon zero for Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2026 and halving Scope 3 emissions by 2030. 

In other news, Dowlais Group fell 6% after warning of lower revenue in 2024, while XP Power rejected a takeover approach from Advanced Energy Industries.

Things to read today:

Nvidia could be the most valuable stock in the US (Financial Times)

Billionaire Kretinsky Sees a UK Double Discount (Bloomberg)