European Shares Set To Open Higher Despite Rising Trade Tensions

(RTTNews) - European stocks may open mostly higher on Thursday despite U.S. President Donald Trump escalating his tariff campaign, sending letters to six additional countries—Algeria, Iraq, Libya, Brunei, Moldova, and the Philippines—with fresh import duties ranging from 20-30 percent.

The diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Brazil hit an all-time low after Trump slapped a 50 percent tariff on Brazilian goods in response to Brazil's trial of Jair Bolsonaro.

Investors await new updates on a deal between the U.S. and the European Union, following Trump's recent remarks that the 27-nation bloc had become much more cooperative.

EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic said there was good progress on a framework trade agreement and a deal may even be possible within days.

U.S. stock futures fell while Asian markets traded broadly higher, unfazed by Trump's tariff announcements.

Traders looked ahead to the weekly jobless claims report and Federal Reserve officials' speeches scheduled for later in the day after the latest Fed meeting minutes showed little support for an interest rate cut later this month.

Closer home, Destatis is scheduled to release Germany's final inflation data for June later in the day. Flash inflation showed that consumer price inflation eased to 2.0 percent from 2.1 percent in May.

Gold ticked higher in Asian trade, driven by a dip in the dollar and bond yields as Trump intensifies his tariff war strategy.

Oil prices were little changed as tariff uncertainty clouded the outlook for fuel demand.

U.S. stocks rose overnight after the minutes from the Fed's mid-June meeting showed support for a rate cut later this year.

Officials noted that economic growth and the labor market remain solid and that price shocks from Trump's import taxes will be "temporary or modest."

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.9 percent to close at a record high, while the S&P 500 gained 0.6 percent and the Dow added half a percent.

European stocks rose for a third consecutive session on Wednesday amid optimism about a potential trade between the U.S. and the European Union.

The pan-European STOXX Europe 600 advanced 0.8 percent. The German DAX and France's CAC 40 both rallied around 1.4 percent while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 edged up by 0.2 percent.