Marketmind: UK awaits CPI; US debt standoff casts long shadow

In the U.S , investors will analyze the minutes of this month’s meeting to see how many officials supported the decision to soften guidance on future rate hikes as they try to gauge the likelihood of a rate hike in June.

Of course, hanging over everything is still the debt c deadlock. As long as no deal is reached, the risk of a catastrophic default cannot be underestimated, with June 1 only about a week away, the date the U.S. government has warned it may not be able to pay its bills.

European shares were likely to fall further after another setback in Asia, with benchmarks in Tokyo and Hong Kong falling more than 1%.