Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks during Ministerial Statement on the Middle East at the House of Commons in London, Britain, April 13, 2026. <\/p>\n
\u00a9 House Of Commons | Via Reuters<\/p>\n
LONDON \u2014 European stocks are expected to open higher Thursday as investors keep an eye on political developments in the U.K. and U.S. President Donald Trump’s trip to China.<\/p>\n
The U.K.’s FTSE<\/a> index is seen opening 0.3% higher, Germany’s DAX<\/a> and France’s CAC 40<\/a>\u00a0both up 0.5%, respectively, and Italy’s FTSE MIB<\/a> up 0.3%, according to data from IG.<\/p>\n Earnings come from National Grid<\/a>, 3i Group<\/a>, Aviva<\/a> and Telefonica<\/a>. Data releases include U.K. first-quarter GDP data.<\/p>\n The U.K.’s political turbulence is expected to stay high up on the news agenda in Europe on Thursday as Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s leadership remains vulnerable to challenges. <\/p>\n Reports on Wednesday suggested Health Secretary Wes Streeting could be prepared to launch a leadership bid on Thursday. Investors are keeping an eye on the country’s borrowing costs as the uncertainty continues.<\/p>\n U.S. President Donald Trump’s trip to Beijing for a highly anticipated presidential summit<\/a> with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, is in focus for global markets amid hopes the two superpowers can stabilize their relationship.<\/p>\n Read more Trump-Xi meeting coverage:<\/p>\n Trump is being accompanied on the trip by a group of\u00a0executives<\/a>, including\u00a0Tesla<\/a>\u00a0CEO\u00a0Elon Musk<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Nvidia<\/a>\u00a0boss Jensen Huang.<\/p>\n The relationship between the two countries will be “better than ever before,” Trump told Xi as the leaders met Thursday. He’s already held his first bilateral meeting with X and is due to tour the historic\u00a0Temple of Heaven<\/a>\u00a0before attending a state banquet.<\/p>\n Asia-Pacific markets<\/a> traded mixed\u00a0overnight while S&P 500 futures<\/a>\u00a0were little changed after a narrow rally in technology stocks pushed the index to new all-time highs on Wednesday.<\/p>\n