Mubasher: European stocks traded higher earlier on Wednesday, buoyed by China’s announcement of exemptions to certain US imports from retaliatory levies, Reuters reported.

By 7:08 am GMT, the pan-European STOXX 600 index edged up by 0.3%.

Debt-laden French retail giant Casino was the biggest riser on the European benchmark index, after its shares climbed by 4.4%, due to a report of a possible bid from competitor Carrefour, set to be an all-stock deal.  

Trade-sensitive German stocks also rallied, with investors continued to rotate into stocks such as autos and banks, dropping shares of defensive sectors.

China’s Finance Ministry on Wednesday announced that it will exempt 16 types of US goods from retaliatory tariffs from 17 September, further boosting investment appetite.

In the meantime, market focus is turned towards the European Central Bank’s (ECB) policy meeting on Thursday, as most of the expectations were for interest rate cuts, and a re-launch of an asset purchase programme.