The pan-European Stoxx 600 was up around 0.3 percent shortly after the opening bell, with most sectors and major bourses in positive territory.
Market participants will be looking at the significance of the latest Brexit development on Thursday. Last night, U.K. lawmakers rejected the idea of leaving the European Union without a Brexit deal in place on March 29, setting up another vote Thursday on whether its official departure date should be extended. MPs also narrowly backed an amendment that rejected a no-deal Brexit in any circumstance.
A no-deal exit was widely expected to be defeated as most MPs (Members of Parliament) want to avoid the economic uncertainty and trade disruptions that it could cause. In Thursday's vote, MPs are expected to approve a delay to the scheduled departure on March 29
· Asian shares stumbled on Thursday after Chinese data signaled further weakness in the world’s second-biggest economy while the pound eased off nine-month highs ahead of another Brexit vote.
Data on Thursday showed China's industrial output growth fell to a 17-year low in the first two months of the year, according to Reuters. That further pointed to an economic slowdown in the world's second-largest economy. But investments picked up pace as the government fast-tracked more road and rail projects, the news agency added.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.2 percent after treading water for most part of the day.
· Japan’s Nikkei ended nearly flat on Thursday after China reported a mixed bag of data that renewed concerns about the global economy, while index-heavyweight SoftBank Group offered support amid talk of an Uber-related investment.
The Nikkei share average ended 0.02 percent lower at 21,287.02 after surging to as high as 21,522.75 in the morning.
SoftBank Group Corp jumped 1.3 percent in heavy volume after Reuters reported the company and Toyota Motor Corp are in talks to invest $1 billion or more in the self-driving vehicle unit of Uber Technologies Inc’s.
SoftBank added 16 positive points to the Nikkei and helped the index to outperform Topix, which dropped 0.2 percent at 1,58
· Shares in China ended lower for a second consecutive session on Thursday after data underscored concerns about slowing growth in the world’s second-largest economy, amid ongoing uncertainty over a deal to end the Sino-U.S. trade dispute.
At the close, the Shanghai Composite index was down 1.2 percent at 2,990.69. The blue-chip CSI300 index was down 0.69 percent.
China’s industrial output rose 5.3 percent in the first two months of the year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said, less than expected and the slowest pace since early 2002.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC
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