European Stocks Climb on Trade Deal Hopes

European stocks saw an uptick on Thursday, fueled by optimistic signs from President Trump regarding his first trade deal tied to the ongoing tariff spat. This development seemed to lift market morale.

The Pan-European Stoxx 600 index climbed 0.3% shortly after markets opened, with most regional indices showing positive movement—though Spain experienced a slight dip of 0.4%.

Trump took to True Society to announce a press conference later that day concerning “a major trade deal with representatives of a big, highly respected country.”

According to the New York Times, which cited sources familiar with the situation, this deal may be linked to the UK.

This news comes ahead of discussions expected to take place this weekend between Washington and Beijing, raising hopes of easing the trade tensions prevalent between the two economic powerhouses.

Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve decided to maintain its interest rates overnight while highlighting concerns over rising inflation and an increased risk of unemployment.

Market observers are also turning their attention to the Bank of England’s upcoming policy meeting, with expectations that it may decide to trim rates by a quarter point.

In other news, the Trump administration announced that a U.S. Commerce Department representative would retract and revise Biden-era regulations restricting the export of advanced artificial intelligence chips.

On a different note, shares of AP Moller-Maersk fell by 2.1% after the company reduced its global container market forecast for the year, citing growing economic and geopolitical uncertainties.

Conversely, Anheuser-Busch Inbev saw a significant rise, up 4.2%, as it surpassed analyst expectations with nearly an 8% jump in operating profit for the first quarter.