European Shares Seen Little Changed As Investors Await China PMI Data

(RTTNews) - European stocks are seen opening little changed on Thursday as rate hike fears persisted, and investors awaited China PMI data for directional cues. Data due on Friday may show that China's manufacturing activity contracted for a third straight month in June.

Closer home, flash inflation data from Germany and economic sentiment numbers from the euro area are due later in the session.

Across the Atlantic, trading later in the day may be impacted by reaction to reports on weekly jobless claims and pending home sales as well as the final reading on first quarter GDP.

The U.S. dollar hovered near a 7-1/2-month high against the Japanese yen and Treasury yields rose slightly after major global central bankers reaffirmed their plans to keep raising interest rates.

Gold prices lingered near mid-March lows while oil prices eased after rising sharply in the U.S. trading session overnight on data showing a sharp drop in U.S. crude stockpiles in the week ended June 23rd.

Asian stocks traded mixed, with Chinese, Hong Kong and South Korean markets declining on concerns about China's uneven economic recovery.

Technology stocks were coming under selling pressure after reports of new U.S. curbs on the export of AI chips to China.

Regional trading volumes were thin due to holidays in India, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia.

U.S. stocks ended a choppy session mixed overnight after Fed Chair Jerome Powell and heads of other top central banks signaled further policy tightening to tame stubbornly high inflation.

Powell indicated that interest rates will stay high and raising rates at consecutive meetings is not off the table.

The S&P 500 finished marginally lower and the Dow slid 0.2 percent while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite edged up 0.3 percent.

European stocks closed higher on Wednesday as strong U.S. economic data pointed to a resilient economy.

The pan European STOXX 600 advanced 0.7 percent. The German DAX rose 0.6 percent, France's CAC 40 climbed 1 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 added half a percent.