European Shares Seen Tad Higher At Open

(RTTNews) - European stocks may open on a positive note Thursday after Wall Street's main stock indexes shrugged off the first U.S. government shutdown in nearly seven years to close higher overnight, with the biggest boost from the healthcare sector.

The economic impact of the shutdown "would depend on its scope and duration," Fitch economists said.

The duration of the shutdown remains unclear, and analysts say the Trump administration may seize it as an opportunity to enforce massive workforce changes and budget cuts affecting Democrats.

Meanwhile, helping ease concerns over the Fed's independence, the Supreme Court said it would decide if President Donald Trump can remove Lisa Cook from the U.S. central bank.

In economic releases, U.S. reports on weekly jobless claims and factory orders are scheduled to be released later in the day, but the data is likely to be delayed due to the government shutdown.

Investors also await the crucial jobs report and the consumer price index for determining the Federal Reserve's next interest rate decision.

Asian markets traded higher, with technology stocks surging after Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix signed an initial supply pact with OpenAI's Stargate project.

Treasury yields edged higher and the dollar index was steady while gold was little changed after setting a record high in the previous session.

Oil prices recovered some ground after declining for a third day in a row to a 16-week low on Wednesday.

Overnight, U.S. stocks reversed early losses to close higher for a fourth straight session amid expectations that a federal government shutdown would be brief and possibly have a negligible macroeconomic impact.

Vice President JD Vance said no final decisions on the layoffs have been made and that he doesn't believe the shutdown is "going to be that long."

Yields on Treasuries fell the most in nearly a month as a weak private-sector payrolls report showing a surprising decline of 32,000 private sector jobs in September added to bets the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates twice more this year.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.4 percent, while the S&P 500 and the Dow inched up 0.3 percent and 0.1 percent, respectively, to reach new record closing highs.

European stocks closed higher on Wednesday, with healthcare stocks surging after Pfizer struck a deal with the U.S. government on MFN pricing.

The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 1.2 percent. The German DAX and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 both rallied around 1 percent while France's CAC 40 climbed 0.9 percent.