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EUROPE BEFORE THE BELL: CHINA TRADE FIGURES TEMPER EXCITMENT

European futures are heading for a drop at the open as traders rein in some of the excitement sparked on Monday by news of China vowing to ramp up policy stimulus to spur growth in 2025.

Further weighing on sentiment are the latest trade figures out of China which showed exports slowed sharply and imports unexpectedly shrank in November.

EuroSTOXX50 STXEc1 futures are down 0.3%, while FTSE futures FFIc1 are off 0.43% and DAX futures FDXc1 are ticking 0.24% lower. The euro EUR=EBS, meanwhile, is holding steady ahead of Thursday's European Central Bank meeting.

Attention is also on developments in Syria where rebels are working to form a government and restore order after President Bashar al-Assad was overthrown over the weekend.

Traders will be keeping a keen eye on developments at Volkswagen and its unions, which were far from finding common ground on tackling a crisis at the automaker's German plants, but held talks on Monday that both sides described as constructive.

U.S. asset manager AllianceBernstein AB.N is preparing to sue Switzerland for $225 million after UBS' UBSG.S takeover of Credit Suisse last year led to the erasure of $17 billion of the failed bank's debt, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.

Westfield mall owner Unibail-Rodamo-Westfield URW.PA shares will be in focus after a shareholder sold shares in a secondary ABB.

(Lucy Raitano)

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