Mubasher: European equities opened higher on Thursday, hitting their highest level since 30 July, amid signs of de-escalation in the trade tensions between the US and China, according to Reuters.

By 7:10 am GMT, the pan-European STOXX 600 index rose by 0.2%. The top gainer on the index was Belgian brewing giant Anheuser-Busch InBev, after announcing that it would weigh an initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong for its Asia Pacific unit, after cancelling the plan two months ago.

The European benchmark index touched a 6-week peak in the prior session.

This was the result of an ease in the trade conflict between the world’s biggest two economies as well as the likelihood of monetary stimulus from the European Central Bank (ECB), which is set to announce the first interest rate cuts since 2016 and re-launch asset purchase programme.

The scale of the stimulus that the ECB would announce after its policy-setting meeting later in the day, will be key in determining the direction of trading during the session.