European Shares Likely To Drift Lower At Open

(RTTNews) - European stocks may open slightly lower on Wednesday after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent downplayed the possibility of a quick agreement with the European Union, saying the bloc suffers from a "collective action problem" that's hampering trade negotiations.

Meanwhile, the U.S. has slashed the "de minimis" tariff on low-value China shipments to 54 percent from 120 percent, marking another trade de-escalation. China has reportedly lifted its ban on Boeing (BA) plane deliveries.

Elsewhere, U.S. President Donald Trump has pledged to lift all sanctions against Syria after announcing a $142bn (£107bn) arms deal with Saudi Arabia.

Asian stocks were mixed, with Hong Kong's tech-heavy Hang Seng and South Korea's Kospi average both rising over 1 percent while a stronger yen weighed on exporters in Japan.

The dollar struggled for direction after a significant overnight decline.

Gold fell below $3230 per ounce after rising in the previous session. Oil dipped but held near two-week highs on trade war reprieve.

In economic releases, final inflation data from Germany and Spain are due later in the session.

U.S. stocks ended mostly higher overnight as trade optimism prevailed and data showed consumer inflation rose less than expected in April.

The U.S. CPI edged up by 0.2 percent in April, bringing the annual increase down to 2.3 percent from 2.4 percent.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.6 percent and the S&P 500 added 0.7 percent to reach their best closing levels in well over two months as Saudi Arabia announced AI development deals with four leading U.S. technology firms, including chip companies NVIDIA and AMD. The narrower Dow shed 0.6 percent.

European stocks closed higher on Tuesday, with sentiment lifted by buoyant German investor sentiment report, the soft U.S. inflation reading and a truce in the Sino-U.S. trade spat.

The pan European STOXX 600 edged up by 0.1 percent, extending gains for a fourth day running.

The German DAX and France's CAC 40 both rose by 0.3 percent while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 finished marginally lower.