European Shares Seen Opening Up On Trade Deal Optimism

(RTTNews) - European stocks look set to open on a positive note Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump said he would announce "a MAJOR TRADE DEAL WITH REPRESENTATIVES OF A BIG, AND HIGHLY RESPECTED, COUNTRY," without giving further details.

The news conference in the Oval Office is scheduled for 10 a.m. Washington time. The Wall Street Journal and the New York Times reported that Trump is likely to announce a framework of a trade deal with the U.K.

Meanwhile, days before representatives of the U.S. and China are set to meet in Switzerland this weekend for talks, Trump said that the U.S. is no longer facing massive trade losses and he is unwilling to lower tariffs to get China to the table.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that talks with China on Saturday are a beginning for talks, not advanced discussions.

Meanwhile, the European Union is set to impose retaliatory tariffs on Boeing jets, escalating trade tensions with the U.S.

The duties would be part of an EU plan to hit about €100 billion ($114 billion) in U.S. goods with additional tariffs if trade talks fail, according to a Bloomberg report.

In economic releases, U.S. reports on initial jobless claims and labor productivity may garner investor attention later in the day.

The Bank of England is expected to lower its key interest rate by a quarter percentage point later in the session amid fears of U.S. tariffs hitting domestic growth.

Monetary policy announcements from Riksbank and Norges Bank are also due.

Asian markets were broadly higher while the U.S. dollar held steady against the euro following its biggest rise in two weeks a day earlier.

Gold ticked higher and held close to $3,400 per ounce after the Federal Reserve warned of economic uncertainty.

Rising geopolitical tensions also lifted bullion's safe-haven demand appeal.

Ukraine's air force reported that Russian aircraft had launched guided bombs on the Sumy region of northern Ukraine in the early hours of Thursday morning, just a few hours after a three-day ceasefire declared by Russian President Vladimir Putin took effect.

Oil recovered some ground after ending lower in the previous session.

U.S. stocks eked out modest gains overnight after two days of losses.

The Dow climbed 0.7 percent, the S&P 500 added 0.4 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.3 percent as the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged, as widely expected, and reports suggested the Trump administration plans to revise AI chip export curbs.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell, who has been on the receiving end of severe criticism from President Trump for not cutting rates, emphasized that the mandate of resolving the uncertainties around tariffs, inflation and unemployment lies with the White House, and the central bank will change policy stance only when there is more clarity on the direction of the economy.

European stocks closed on a weak note Wednesday despite optimism surrounding upcoming U.S.-China trade talks and China's new stimulus measures.

The pan European STOXX 600 dropped half a percent. The German DAX shed 0.6 percent, France's CAC 40 gave up 0.9 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 dipped 0.4 percent.