The stock markets expected to rise very slightly before Powell and Yellen's congressional hearings. The Eurostoxx 50 opened at 4,165.48 points up 0.17%, the CAC 40 at 6,650.91 points (+0.19%), the DAX 40 at 15,573.88 points (+0.27%), the FTSE 100 at 7,063.40 points (+0.17%), the SMI at 11,691.18 points (-1.07%), the AEX at 788.67 points (-0.35%), the BEL 20 at 4,177.29 points (+0.93%), the IBEX 35 at 9,002.90 points (+1.46%), the DJIA at 34,869.37 points (+0.21%), the Nasdaq at 14,969.97 points (-0.52%), the S&P 500 at 4,443.11 points (-0.28%) and the Nikkei 225 at 30,127.30 points with a decline of 0.37%.

As far as exchange rates are concerned, the change from the close in New York indicates a general increase. EUR/USD stood at 1.1697 (+0.01%), EUR/JPY at 130.03 (+0.16%), USD/JPY at 111.19 (+0.16%).

Investors will follow September household confidence figures on Tuesday. On the corporate side, Sanofi is organizing a press briefing on its efforts against Covid-19 and TotalEnergies is holding the second part of its investor days on the group's strategy and prospects.

European equity markets are expected to open very slightly higher on Tuesday, but investors should remain cautious about rising oil prices and bond yields a few hours before the hearing of the Chairman of the Federal Reserve (Fed), Jerome Powell, in front of Congress. At 7:35 a.m., the CAC 40 futures contract gained 7.5 points, or 0.1%, according to data from broker IG Markets. The DAX contract gained 19 points, or 0.1%, and the FTSE 100 contract rose 7.7 points, or 0.1%. In recent days, rising energy prices and bond yields have fueled fears of accelerating inflation.

Wall Street ended mixed on Monday, with the Dow Jones index benefiting from the rise in energy and industrial stocks, while rising bond yields hurt the tech sector and telecoms. The Dow Jones index rose 0.2% to 34,869.37 points. The broader S&P 500 index fell 0.3% to 4,443.11 points. The technology-dominated Nasdaq Composite fell 0.5% to 14,969.97 points. In Asia, markets are moving in scattered order on Tuesday. At the end of the session, the Nikkei index of the Tokyo Stock Exchange lost 0.3%. The Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.6%, and in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng gained 1.6%.

The yield on the ten-year U.S. Treasury bond exceeded 1.5% on Tuesday morning, supported by optimism about the economic outlook and the Outlook for a tightening of the Fed's monetary policy. At 7:40 am, this rate stood at 1.509% against 1.485% on Monday evening.

The euro is little changed against the dollar on Tuesday morning, as calm returns to the market after the German elections. According to CBA Bank, Germany is now heading for many weeks, if not months, of negotiations to form a coalition government. Overall, the high probability of a more left-wing policy than that of Chancellor Angela Merkel, in power for 16 years, suggests that Germany's fiscal position could become a less significant drag on the economy in the coming years than currently anticipated. Such a development would be favourable to the euro, says CBA.

Oil prices continue to rise Tuesday morning, with the price of a barrel of North Sea Brent exceeding the $80 threshold, driven by the shortage of natural gas affecting some countries, says CBA. At 7:30 a.m., the November contract for North Sea Brent was up 59 cents, at $80.12 a barrel. The same maturity on light sweet crude (WTI) listed on the Nymex took 64 cents, to $ 76.09 per barrel.