European Shares Seen Tad Higher At Open

(RTTNews) - European stocks may open slightly higher on Thursday after the Trump administration announced a one-month delay on tariffs affecting cars entering the U.S. from Canada and Mexico, raising hopes for negotiations.

However, the broader 25 percent duties imposed on Canada and Mexico remain in effect with no resolution in sight and more levies are set to begin in April.

The U.S. economic calendar remains light today, with reports on weekly jobless claims and the trade deficit likely to garner some attention ahead of the all-important jobs report due Friday.

Retail giants Macy's (M), Kroger, Costco (COST) and Gap (GAP) will unveil their earnings later in the day, with investors awaiting more insight into how the ongoing trade war could impact the industry.

Closer home, the European Central Bank and its counterpart in Turkey will deliver their interest-rate decisions today.

EU leaders are meeting in Brussels for a special summit to discuss continued support for Ukraine and European defense.

A global bond selloff accelerated in Asia, pushing Japanese benchmark yields to the highest in more than a decade after German bund yields saw historic jumps on Wednesday amid plans by the country for a huge uplift in defense and infrastructure spending.

Asian stocks traded mostly higher, with Chinese and Hong Kong markets leading regional gains as Alibaba Group Holdings introduced a new model that matches DeepSeek's performance using significantly less data.

The Chinese yuan dipped from a four-month high against the dollar, even as other global currencies rose on U.S. tariff relief.

Gold was marginally lower while oil prices recovered some ground after declining for four consecutive sessions to the lowest level in six months on growth worries and signs from OPEC+ it may boost supply.

U.S. stocks rose sharply overnight after reports emerged that President Donald Trump was considering a one-month delay of auto tariffs on Canada and Mexico.

The White House later confirmed the exemption for automakers and said Trump was open to providing additional tariff exemptions.

Meanwhile, a slew of economic data painted a mixed picture of the economy, with private payrolls increasing in February at the slowest pace in seven months while new orders for U.S. manufactured goods rebounded in January amid a surge in commercial aircraft bookings.

There was an unexpected rise in growth in the services sector in February, but signs of increased input prices tempered optimism.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rallied 1.5 percent, while the S&P 500 and the Dow both rose about 1.1 percent.

European stocks closed on a buoyant note Wednesday amid U.S. tariff relief hopes, Germany's plans to overhaul its debt policy and the prospect of further stimulus for the Chinese economy.

The pan European STOXX 600 gained 0.9 percent after logging its worst day since August 2024 the previous day.

The German DAX soared 3.4 percent and France's CAC 40 climbed 1.6 percent while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 finished marginally lower.