BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks are likely to open higher on Thursday amid easing political worries and on hopes of U.S.-China trade deal after U.S. and Chinese officials agreed to meet in early October for a new round of negotiations.
Asian stocks advanced, with benchmark indexes in South Korea, China and Japan climbing 1-2 percent, after the British Parliament voted to take a no-deal Brexit option off the table and Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam withdrew a controversial extradition bill that had set off three months of protests.
The British pound hovered around a one-week high amid bets that a no-deal Brexit could be avoided. The Canadian dollar spiked sharply as the Bank of Canada left interest rates on hold and sounded less dovish than the market had expected.
U.S. Treasury yields extended gains and the yield curve steepened while oil prices fell slightly after sharp overnight gains.
On the data front, factory orders data from Germany and quarterly national accounts from Switzerland are due later in the session, headlining a light day for the European economic news.
Across the Atlantic, reports on private sector employment, weekly jobless claims and service sector activity may attract attention, although trading activity may be subdued ahead of the release of the Labor Department's more closely watched monthly jobs report due on Friday.
Overnight, U.S. stocks rose solidly as investors parsed new commentary from Fed officials and reacted positively to developments in Italy, Britain and Hong Kong.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.9 percent while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.3 percent and the S&P 500 added 1.1 percent.
European markets hit one-month highs on Wednesday, as concerns about a no-deal Brexit eased and data showed an acceleration in China's service sector growth and a slight improvement in euro zone business growth.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 advanced 0.9 percent. The German DAX rallied 1 percent, France's CAC 40 index surged 1.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 added 0.6 percent.
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