European Shares Seen Higher At Open

(RTTNews) - European stocks are seen opening broadly higher on Thursday as a weak ADP jobs report reinforced Fed rate cut hopes and helped offset concerns about Microsoft AI software demand.

The U.S. economic calendar remains light today, with a report on weekly jobless claims likely to shed additional light on the strength of the labor market ahead of next week's Federal Reserve meeting.

Asian markets were mixed amid concerns that China's property slump could drag on for a fifth year.

Japanese markets outperformed, with the Nikkei average surging nearly 2 percent as investors rotated from chip makers into robotics names like Fanuc and Yaskawa.

The dollar hit a five-week low after U.S. private payrolls logged their biggest drop in more than two-and-a-half years.

Gold dipped below $4,200 per ounce while oil prices rose after Ukrainian attacks on Russia's oil infrastructure signaled potential supply constraints.

U.S. Treasury yields steadied following reports that bond investors have expressed concerns to the U.S. Treasury about Kevin Hassett potentially cutting interest rates aggressively.

U.S. stocks rose overnight as weak ADP jobs data reinforced views that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates next week.

Payrolls processor ADP reported that private sector employment surprisingly declined by 32,000 in November after climbing by an upwardly revised 47,000 jobs in October. Economists had expected an increase of 10,000 jobs for the month.

Separate data revealed that U.S. services activity expanded at a slightly faster pace in November.

The Dow jumped 0.9 percent, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite inched up 0.2 percent and the S&P 500 added 0.3 percent.

European stocks ended mixed on Wednesday as Eurozone manufacturing weakened in November and ECB officials reiterated a hawkish bias.

The pan European Stoxx 600 gained 0.1 percent. The German DAX and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 both edged down by 0.1 percent while France's CAC 40 rose 0.2 percent.