British Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks during a ministerial statement on the Middle East at the House of Commons in London, Britain, April 13, 2026.
© House of Commons | Via Reuters
LONDON — European stock markets opened broadly higher on Thursday as investors kept an eye on political developments in the United Kingdom and U.S. President Donald Trump’s trip to China.
Sshortly after the opening bell, the pan-European conference Stoxx 600 was up 0.3%, with most sectors and major exchanges in positive territory.
The winnings come from National Network, Group 3i, Aviva And Telephone. The data released includes UK GDP data for the first quarter.
Political turmoil in the UK is set to remain at the top of European news on Thursday, as Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s leadership remains vulnerable to challenges.
Reports on Wednesday suggested Health Secretary Wes Streeting could be ready to launch a leadership bid on Thursday. Investors are keeping an eye on the country’s borrowing costs as uncertainty persists.
US President Donald Trump’s highly anticipated trip to Beijing presidential summit with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, is the focus of global markets in the hope that the two superpowers can stabilize their relations.
Learn more Coverage of the Trump-Xi meeting:
Trump is accompanied on his trip by a group of executivesincluding Tesla CEO Elon Musk And Nvidia boss Jensen Huang.
Relations between the two countries will be “better than ever,” Trump told Xi during the leaders’ meeting Thursday. He has already had his first bilateral meeting with X and is due to tour the historic country Temple of Heaven before attending a state banquet.
Asia-Pacific Markets traded mixed overnight while S&P 500 Futures Contracts were little changed after a slight rally in technology stocks pushed the index to new all-time highs on Wednesday.
