European Shares Seen Tad Higher At Open

(RTTNews) - European stocks may open on a positive note Thursday after falling sharply in the previous session.

A cautious undertone may prevail due to fears of a wide-ranging trade war and Fed policy uncertainty.

Asian markets were broadly lower, the Japanese yen hit an over two-month high against the dollar and gold held firm near record high levels due to heightened tensions between the U.S. and Ukraine.

U.S. President Donald Trump has called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a "dictator" and warned of losing his country if peace wasn't secured swiftly - heightening concerns among U.S. allies in Europe.

Trump also said he believes Russia "have the cards" in any peace talks to end the war in Ukraine because they have "taken a lot of territory".

Meanwhile, the People's Bank of China has kept the 1-year loan prime rate steady at 3.1 percent and the 5-year LPR unchanged at 3.6 percent, as widely expected.

Oil prices fell from a one-week high after the American Petroleum Institute reported anther build in U.S. crude stockpiles.

Trading later in the day may be impacted by reaction to Eurozone consumer confidence survey results as well as U.S. reports on weekly jobless claims, Philadelphia-area manufacturing activity and leading economic indicators.

U.S. stocks eked out modest gains overnight as investors scrutinized the Fed's January 28-29 policy meeting minutes and weighed the potential effect of President's Trump's tariff proposals on inflation and growth.

The latest FOMC meeting minutes revealed that officials want to see further progress on inflation before they consider resuming lowering interest rates.

Several remarked that policy could be eased if labor market conditions deteriorated, economic activity faltered, or inflation returned to 2 percent more quickly than anticipated.

The S&P 500 edged up by 0.2 percent to reach a new record closing high, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite finished marginally higher and the Dow added 0.2 percent.

European stocks closed lower on Wednesday as investors assessed disappointing earnings updates, Trump's latest tariff threats, and a hotter-than-expected U.K. inflation print.

The pan European STOXX 600 fell 0.9 percent. The German DAX tumbled 1.8 percent, France's CAC 40 shed 1.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 gave up 0.6 percent.