Europe open: Markets rise on tariff delay rumours; Fed announcement eyed
European stocks were higher on Wednesday morning amid reports that the US will push back planned tariffs on Chinese imports.
At 0854 GMT, the Stoxx 600 was 0.1% higher at 405.82, as Germany's Dax rose by 0.4% to 13,118.07 and the French CAC 40 edged 0.1% upward to 5,855.69. Meanwhile, London's FTSE 100 was up by 0.4% at 7,243.15.
The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday reported that Washington is likely to delay its planned tariffs on more than $150bn of Chinese goods beyond the Sunday deadline as the two sides look to secure a phase one trade deal.
CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said there was still no expectation for an agreement to be reached with Beijing any time soon, though progress in negotiations with Mexico and Canada meant Washington could pass one trade deal before the end of the year.
The US Federal Reserve is also being watched closely, with the central bank set to make a new policy announcement after European markets close.
Oanda analyst Craig Erlam said: "It's not often that the central bank plays one of the supporting roles but that is certainly the case this week. The Fed has cut interest rates at each of the last three meetings and this one comes on the back of a knockout jobs report.
"Policy makers are thinking about Christmas shopping and parties not another rate cut and the odds fully support this."
Among individual stocks, Credit Suisse fell after downgrading profitability targets for this year and the next.
Telefonica Deutschland dropped after slashing its dividend in favour of further investment in network upgrades over the next three years.
Wirecard was also in the red after the Financial Times reported that a former Libyan intelligence chief, who claims to be a shareholder in the German payments business, has had the company's critics monitored. The Munich-based company has denied any involvement.
K+S climbed after the German salt and potash miner said it was contemplating selling stakes in some of its North American operations in order to reduce debt.