European stocks may open higher on Thursday after gains in several big tech stocks helped nudge the S&P 500 to a second record high in three days.<\/p>\n
The dollar index hovered close to two-week lows as U.S. Treasury yields continued to retreat from more than 1-year highs.<\/p>\n
Asian markets<\/span> remain broadly higher, though Japanese shares fell on concerns about a spike in domestic Covid infections and possible restrictions on economic activity. <\/p>\n China reported 24 cases for Wednesday, up from 12 a day earlier. South Korea reported 700 new cases, the highest daily figure since early January.<\/p>\n India is battling a deadly second wave with daily infections this week passing the peak of the first wave seen last September. <\/p>\n In economic releases, factory orders and construction Purchasing Managers’ survey results from Germany are due later in the session, headlining a light day for the European economic news.<\/p>\n Economists expect German factory orders to climb 1.2 percent month-on-month in February, following a 1.4 percent rise in January.<\/p>\n Across the Atlantic, a report on weekly jobless claims is likely to attract attention as traders keep an eye on remarks by Fed Chair Jerome Powell during a virtual International Monetary Fund Debate on the Global Economy. Powell is likely to reiterate the dovish outlook. <\/p>\n U.S. stocks ended narrowly mixed overnight after minutes of March FOMC meeting reinforced expectations that interest rates will remain low for some time amid continued uncertainty surrounding the economic outlook.<\/p>\n