European markets head for higher open as investors monitor Russian gas supplies to Europe

Key Points

• European stocks are expected to open higher on Thursday as investors continue to monitor developments in Ukraine and Russia’s next move when it comes to its gas supplies to Europe.
• There was mixed trade for European stocks on Wednesday, with fears persisting over Ukraine and energy supplies to the region following Russia’s decision to halt gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria.

LONDON — European stocks are expected to open higher on Thursday as investors continue to monitor developments in Ukraine and Russia’s next move when it comes to its gas supplies to Europe.

The U.K.’s FTSE index is seen opening 17 points higher at 7,451,Germany’s DAX 78 points higher at 13,835, France’s CAC 40 up 42 points at 6,471 and Italy’s FTSE MIB 122 points higher at 23,577, according to data from IG.

There was mixed trade for European stocks on Wednesday, with fears persisting over Ukraine and energy supplies to the region following Russia’s decision to halt gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria.

Gazprom told both countries that it was halting supplies because they had refused to pay for the gas in rubles, as Moscow demanded recently. The move pushed European gas prices higher and the euro lower, with the single currency falling to a five-year low against the dollar earlier in the day.

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Elsewhere, Asia-Pacific stocks were higher in Thursday morning trade, as investors in the region watched for market reaction to the Bank of Japan’s latest monetary policy decision. U.S. stock futures rose in overnight trading as the market shook off the April sell-off and investors reacted positively to earnings from Meta Platforms.

In another busy day for earnings, Sanofi, TotalEnergies, HelloFresh, Banco Sabadell, Barclays, Sainsbury’s, Standard Chartered and Unilever are among the companies reporting Thursday.

Data releases include euro area consumer confidence and economic sentiment figures for April.

Source : CNBC