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(Reuters) — European shares climbed on Thursday after President Donald Trump signalled progress toward a first trade deal in his global tariff dispute, boosting market sentiment.
The pan-European STOXX 600 (^STOXX) index was up 0.3% soon after the market open. Other regional indexes were also trading in positive territory, except for Spain's, which fell 0.4%.
Trump posted on Truth Social that he will hold a news conference later in the day about a "major trade deal with representatives of a big, and highly respected, country".
Citing three people familiar with the plans, the New York Times reported on Wednesday that the deal could be with Britain.
This comes ahead of potential ice-breaker talks between Washington and Beijing trade tsars this weekend, that have firmed hopes for de-escalation in trade tensions between the world's two leading economies.
Overnight, in a widely expected decision, the Federal Reserve held its interest rates steady, with the U.S. central bank flagging that the risks of higher inflation and unemployment had risen.
Markets are also closely watching the Bank of England's policy meeting, due later in the day, with expectations for a quarter-point rate cut.
Separately, Trump's administration plans to rescind and modify a Biden-era rule that curbed the export of sophisticated artificial-intelligence chips, said a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Shares of A.P. Moller-Maersk (MAERSK-B.CO, AMKBY) fell 2.1% after the shipping group lowered its global container market forecast for this year due to increased economic and geopolitical uncertainty, although it left its profit outlook unchanged.
Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD, ABI.BR) rose 4.2% after the beer brewer reported a nearly 8% rise in first-quarter operating profit, beating analysts' estimate by more than double.
(Reporting by Sukriti Gupta in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)