European Shares Seen Broadly Higher At Open

(RTTNews) - European stocks are likely to open broadly higher on Thursday, though U.K. markets may open on a subdued note as oil extended overnight losses amid a lack of clarity on U.S. President Trump's tariff policies, especially on Canada and Mexico, the two largest suppliers of crude oil to United States.

U.S. President Donald Trump still plans to make good on his promise to issue tariffs on Canada and Mexico on Saturday, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, Trump's nominee to run the Commerce Department, Howard Lutnick, said the countries can avoid the tariffs by closing borders to fentanyl.

U.S. stock futures edged higher and Asian markets mostly rose in thin holiday trade as investors digested broadly positive tech earnings.

Meta Platforms reported fourth-quarter earnings that beat on the top and bottom lines.

IBM reported better-than-projected quarterly sales and profit. Microsoft reported fiscal second-quarter Intelligent Cloud revenue that missed analysts' expectations.

Tesla reported a disappointing quarter on both revenue and the profit front, but the management promised growth to return in 2025.

Apple is set to report its fiscal first-quarter earnings results later in the day amid China iPhone sales concerns and a lackluster AI feature launch.

On the economic front, the ECB rate decision along with reports on economic sentiment, consumer confidence, unemployment and GDP may influence trading sentiment later in the day.

Across the Atlantic, GDP and jobless claims figures may garner some attention.

Gold prices edged up slightly in Asian trade as the dollar weakened and Treasuries held steady after ending Wednesday's session mostly unchanged.

U.S. stocks fell overnight as the Federal Reserve left rates steady, as widely expected, and removed the reference on inflation making progress.

"In considering the extent and timing of additional adjustments to the target range for the federal funds rate, the Committee will carefully assess incoming data, the evolving outlook, and the balance of risks," the accompanying policy statement said.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 both dipped around half a percent while the Dow dropped 0.3 percent.

European stocks closed mostly higher on Wednesday as tech stocks recovered from a sell-off at the start of the week.

The pan European STOXX 600 gained half a percent. The German DAX rallied 1 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 rose 0.3 percent while France's CAC 40 shed 0.3 percent.