European Shares Seen Opening Mixed After Strong Rally

European stocks are seen opening mixed on Thursday, after having rallied sharply the previous day on easing worries over the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Foreign ministers from Russia and Ukraine will be meeting in Turkey today in the first high-level talks between the two countries since Moscow invaded its neighbor.

Asian markets followed Wall Street higher as a sharp fall in oil prices helped ease inflation fears.

Oil prices rose over 2 percent in Asian trade after Wednesday’s plunge of more than $15 as United Arab Emirates pledged to support hiking oil output and Iraq said the country hasn’t seen extra demand from oil customers.

U.S. Treasury yields rose while gold held below $2,000 per ounce as investors await U.S. inflation and weekly jobless claims data for fresh clues about the pace of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy tightening.

Closer home, the monetary policy announcement from the European Central Bank is due, headlining a light day for the European economic news.

The ECB is expected to take a more cautious approach than previously anticipated as the ongoing conflict in Ukraine has changed economic scenario. The outcome of the governing council meeting is due at 7.45 am ET.

The bank is set to hold its main refinancing rate at zero, the deposit rate at -0.50 percent and the marginal lending rate at 0.25 percent. At 8.30 am ET, ECB Chief Christine Lagarde holds press conference in Frankfurt.

U.S. stocks surged the most since June 2020 overnight, oil slid below $110 a barrel and the 10-year Treasury yield climbed back above 1.9 percent, after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the country is ready to hold a dialogue with Russia on security guarantees and the future of Donetsk, Lugansk and Crimea.

The Dow rallied 2 percent, the S&P 500 added 2.6 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite surged as much as 3.6 percent.

European stocks notched their biggest rally since the pandemic bottom in March 2020 on Wednesday amid potential for compromise between Ukraine and Russia.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index surged 4.7 percent. The German DAX soared 7.9 percent, France’s CAC 40 index jumped 7.1 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 advanced 3.3 percent.

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