European Shares Seen Broadly Lower At Open

(RTTNews) - European stocks are seen opening a tad lower on Thursday after a sharp rally in the previous session.

The commodities-heavy FTSE 100 may open higher as oil extended a powerful early-year advance on mounting risks to global supplies and data indicating a large draw in U.S. crude stockpiles.

Trading later in the day may be impacted by the release of U.S. reports on weekly jobless claims and retail sales as well as quarterly earnings results from Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and UnitedHealth due before the opening bell.

Asian stocks followed Wall Street higher amid optimism around possible Federal Reserve rate cuts this year and potential easing measures from Beijing in the coming weeks.

The dollar weakened as several Fed officials expressed confidence that U.S. inflation would continue to ebb.

Gold held steady near $2,700 per ounce while oil prices extended gains after climbing more than 2 percent on Wednesday.

U.S. stocks rallied overnight, the dollar dipped, and bond yields fell as investors cheered a soft inflation print and upbeat earnings from the likes of JPMorgan Chase, BlackRock, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup.

Data showed the consumer price index (CPI) rose in line with expectations at an annual rate of 2.9 percent in December, from November's 2.7 percent - matching expectations.

The annual rate of core consumer price growth unexpectedly slowed to 3.2 percent from 3.3 percent, raising expectations that the Federal Reserve could ease rates further.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite soared 2.5 percent, the Dow climbed 1.7 percent and the S&P 500 surged 1.8 percent - logging their largest daily percentage gains in over two months.

European stocks rose sharply on Wednesday after the release of encouraging consumer price inflation data from the U.K. and the U.S.

The pan-European STOXX 600 gained 1.3 percent, snapping a three-day losing streak and clocking its best performance since August 2024.

The German DAX rallied 1.5 percent, France's CAC 40 added 0.7 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 rose 1.2 percent.