Europe open: Shares up as traders eye US tariff legal row, jobs report

(Sharecast News) - European stocks were up slightly at the open on Thursday, as traders eyed the latest legal moves on US President Donald Trump's tariffs and awaited a key jobs report later in the day. The Stoxx 600 index was up 0.08% at 547.22 as of 0819 BST. Germany's DAX gained 0.13% while France's CAC 40 fell by 0.41%.

Trump on Wednesday asked the Supreme Court to quickly accept and rule on an appeal seeking to overturn a federal appeals court ruling last week that deemed most of the tariffs illegal.

On the economics front, the ADP private payrolls report is due with forecasts for private employers to have added 75,000 jobs in August, down from 104,000 jobs in July.

"There is a sense of calm in European and US markets. The recovery in global bond yields on Wednesday has helped sentiment, the gold price is lower by $30," said XTB research director Kathleen Brooks.

"There are signs that the bond market rout could be over. Global government bond sales have been strong this week and have not been impacted by bond market volatility. Added to this, some governments including the UK's are talking once more about public sector spending cuts, which may boost demand for gilts in the short term."

"Risks are still looming for the bond market, for example, Monday's confidence vote in the French government. If the government collapses, then French bonds will be in the spotlight. Ahead today, there is a massive $11bn auction of French government debt. We will be watching this closely to gauge demand and to see if political turmoil impacts demand."

In equity news, shares in Sanofi slumped as the pharma giant's new eczema drug disappointed in trials.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com