(fxcue news) - European stocks are seen opening on a positive note Monday, even as the upside may remain capped due to concerns about the path of interest rates. The U.S. economic calendar remains light, with reports on housing starts, existing home sales and weekly jobless claims likely to garner attention as the week progresses. Nvidia, the world's most valued company by market capitalization will declare its third quarter results on Wednesday, with traders watching for guidance about the company's demand for its Blackwell AI chips. Eurostat publishes euro area external trade data for September later in the day. The trade surplus is forecast to increase to EUR 7.9 billion from EUR 4.6 billion in the previous month. Asian markets traded mostly higher, led by Chinese, Hong Kong and Seoul stocks as Samsung Electronics announced a surprise stock buyback plan, and reports suggested that Chinese developers are speeding up project launches, sensing a turning point in sentiment among homebuyers after several rounds of policy support from the government. Also, China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) said it will expand the scope of stock eligible to trade via Stock Connect. Japan's Nikkei was down nearly 1 percent after Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda reiterated the central bank will keep raising interest rates if economic and price developments move in line with its forecasts but gave little clarity on the prospect of a rate hike in December. The dollar eased in Asian trading and oil rebounded after a weekly decline while gold recovered after suffering its worst weekly drop since 2021. U.S. stocks fell sharply on Friday and the yield on the 10-year note touched a six-month high as recent economic data on inflation and retail sales coupled with comments from senior Fed officials, including Chair Jerome Powell, weakened the case for a December rate cut by the Federal Reserve. Data showed earlier in the day that sales at retailers rose solidly in October, suggesting the economy still has plenty of momentum heading into the holiday shopping season. Another report showing unexpected gains in both import and export prices added to worries about sticky inflation. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite plunged 2.2 percent, the S&P dropped 1.3 percent and the Dow shed 0.7 percent. European stocks closed lower on Friday, weighed down by disappointing earnings, concerns over Trump's potential tariffs and uncertainty over Fed's policy. The pan European STOXX 600 fell 0.8 percent. The German DAX dipped 0.3 percent, France's CAC 40 gave up 0.6 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 slid 0.1 percent.