European Shares To Open On Firm Note As Trade War Fears Ease

(RTTNews) - European stocks are likely to open higher on Thursday as trade war fears eased, and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that President Donald Trump is not directly calling for the Federal Reserve to lower rates.

If energy prices are brought down, the tax-cut extensions the administration is working toward are enacted, and the economy is deregulated, "then rates will take care of themselves, and the dollar will take care of itself," Bessent said.

Meanwhile, after Trump's offer to 'take ownership' of Gaza Strip drew international outrage, the White House clarified that he didn't mean putting the boots on the ground and U.S. forces won't be entangled in the issue.

Media reports suggest that Trump's plan to end the bloody three-year war in Ukraine could be unveiled at the Munich Security Conference in Germany next week.

The U.S. economic calendar remains light today, with a report on weekly jobless claims along with preliminary readings on labor productivity and costs in the fourth quarter of 2024 likely to garner some attention.

Closer home, German factory orders and Eurozone retail sales data are awaited. The Bank of England's rate decision is due, with the central bank expected to deliver its first interest rate cut of the year.

U.S. stock futures edged higher as investors await Amazon's upcoming earnings and the official nonfarm payrolls report for direction.

Asian markets were broadly higher as the U.S. Postal Service reversed its decision, a day after placing a ban on all inbound packages from China and Hong Kong.

The U.S. dollar slumped to an eight-week trough to the yen and lingered near a one-month low versus sterling as inflation worries abated.

Gold steadied near record high levels while oil prices edged up slightly after falling around 2 percent in the previous session.

U.S. stocks ended a choppy session slightly higher overnight while the dollar eased, and Treasury yields dropped to their lowest level since mid-December after the release of lackluster earnings from tech giants like Alphabet and Advanced Micro Devices and mixed economic data.

Private sector employment increased in January and annual pay was up again year-over-year, while activity in the U.S. services sector eased in January and record high imports pushed the U.S. trade deficit sharply wider in December, separate reports revealed.

The Dow climbed 0.7 percent, the S&P 500 edged up 0.4 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 0.2 percent.

European stocks gained for a second day running on Wednesday as positive earnings results from banks and pharma companies offset concerns about potential U.S. trade tariffs.

The pan European STOXX 600 advanced half a percent. The German DAX rose 0.4 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 added 0.6 percent while France's CAC 40 slid 0.2 percent.