European Shares Seen Opening Up In Cautious Trade

(RTTNews) - European stocks may open higher on Thursday following Wall Street's relief rally overnight.

Asian markets followed Wall Street higher, though a cautious undertone prevailed amid small declines in U.S. stock futures after the Fed's Atlanta president Raphael Bostic said he favored raising rates by three-quarters of a percentage point at the November policy meeting and by half a percentage point at the December gathering.

Elsewhere, European Union officials proposed fresh economic sanctions on Russia in response to the further annexing of Ukraine.

The dollar resumed its climb to hover close to 20-year highs amid fears of U.K. contagion. China's onshore yuan advanced for the first time in nine sessions after the country's central bank warned against betting on the currency.

Gold faced resistance around the $1,650 per ounce level, while oil prices fell slightly after a two-day rally.

Flash consumer price data from Germany, economic confidence figures from euro area and a report on U.S. weekly jobless claims may attract some attention as the day progresses.

U.S. stocks bounced back overnight, bond yields eased, and the dollar pulled back after the Bank of England (BoE) said it would buy long-dated government bonds on "whatever scale is necessary" to address dysfunction in the gilt market.

The Dow climbed 1.9 percent, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rallied 2.1 percent and the S&P 500 added 2 percent.

European stocks reversed initial losses to end higher on Wednesday as the BoE stepped into bond market and suspended its planned sale of gilts in response to turmoil stemming from adverse reaction to the British government's fiscal plans.

The pan European Stoxx 600 gained 0.3 percent. The German DAX rose 0.4 percent, France's CAC 40 index inched up 0.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.3 percent.