European equities closed sharply higher Thursday as trade tensions eased.
European markets
The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed 2.4 percent higher provisionally with every sector rising. Basic resources and technology stocks were the top-performing sectors, each up over 3 percent.
Overall, market sentiment was driven by news that the U.S. is willing to sit down with the Chinese authorities and fix their trade divergences. China presented Wednesday a list of retaliatory measures against recent proposals for U.S. tariffs on a range of Chinese products.
Looking across the European benchmark, Ubisoft topped the gains, up by 10.77 percent. The success of its latest video game "Far Cry 5" led to a ratings upgrade and drove the shares higher. Meanwhile, the health care firm BTG dropped more than 10 percent after taking an impairment charge of around 150 million pounds ($211 million), Reuters reported.
On Wall Street, stocks climbed as tech shares rose following a roller-coaster ride in the previous session.
German numbers disappoint
In corporate news, Accor Hotels announced it is buying a 50 percent stake in Mantis Group, expanding its presence in Africa and in luxury travel. Accor's stock was almost 2 percent higher.
In terms of data, service PMIs in the U.K. slowed down last month due to weather conditions and a weak consumer demand. In the euro zone, the story was similar, with heavy snow and a strong currency impacting new orders.
Earlier, German new manufacturing orders came in lower than analysts had expected, seeing a rise of 0.3 percent on the previous month.