European Shares Seen Opening Up On China Optimism

(RTTNews) - European stocks may open a tad higher on Thursday after Beijing used a series of meetings to underline the country's pivot towards a focus on growth.

China will speed up construction of major investment projects and equipment upgrading, state media quoted the cabinet as saying after a regular meeting.

Asian markets traded broadly higher, and the yen firmed towards its recent four-month peak against the dollar, while oil extended gains for a fourth day after data showed a larger-than-expected draw in U.S. crude stockpiles.

Traders also tracked the fallout from Group of Seven sanctions targeting Russia's crude exports and revenues.

Gold edged higher ahead of the latest weekly U.S. jobless claim numbers and the U.S. GDP data for the third quarter due out later in the day.

Closer home, the Office for National Statistics releases U.K. final GDP data for the third quarter.

The preliminary estimates showed that the economy contracted 0.2 percent sequentially, offsetting the 0.2 percent increase a quarter ago. The statistical office is set to confirm the preliminary estimate.

U.S. stocks rose for a second straight session overnight on the back of upbeat consumer confidence data and solid earnings from corporate giants Nike and FedEx.

The Dow surged 1.6 percent, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite climbed around 1.5 percent each.

European stocks ended Wednesday's session on a buoyant note after a report showed improvement in German consumer sentiment.

The pan European STOXX 600 advanced 1.7 percent. The German DAX rallied 1.5 percent, France's CAC 40 index surged 2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 added 1.7 percent.