A look at the day ahead in European and global markets from Gregor Stuart Hunter
The fight over pay is not done at Samsung Electronics. A planned strike which was due to start today was averted by a deal between the company and its union at the 11th hour last night - only for a group of disgruntled shareholders to threaten to scupper the whole thing.
Details of the deal have drawn attention, including bonuses for some staff of around $416,000, mostly paid in stock.
Investors are looking past the drama,
though, bidding up Samsung's shares by more than 7% - and lifting South Korean shares more than 7.5%. SK Hynix, the rival memory chipmaker whose bonus package triggered the pay dispute at Samsung, is up more than 11%.
Markets are in a buoyant mood after three supertankers carrying 6 million barrels of oil crossed the Strait of Hormuz, even as signs emerged that Iran is consolidating its control of the waterway.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rallied 3% after Nvidia's better-than-expected revenue forecast on Wednesday lifted shares in chipmakers.
But the world's most valuable company sank 1.3% in after-hours trading as traders were left wanting more, weighing on S&P 500 e-mini futures, which were last flat.
Elsewhere, Japan's Nikkei 225 jumped 3.6% after S&P Global's flash manufacturing PMI showed expansion in May, albeit at a slower pace than a month earlier. Exports also jumped an annual 14.8% in April, confounding fears of stagflation in the global economy and firming up expectations that the Bank of Japan will hike rates next month.
With AI-related trades looking healthy and the excitement of SpaceX's blockbuster IPO to digest, markets are looking through new geopolitical worries.
For one, U.S. President Donald Trump said he would speak to his Taiwanese counterpart Lai Ching-te, a move that is sure to infuriate China, which regards the island as its own.
The self-governing island's foreign ministry said on Thursday that Lai would be happy to speak with the U.S. - which would mark the first direct talks since Washington shifted diplomatic recognition to Beijing from Taipei in 1979. China's foreign ministry is yet to respond.
In early European trades, pan-region futures were up 0.1%, FTSE futures were down 0.1%, and German DAX futures were flat.
Key developments that could influence markets on Thursday:
Company announcements:
Auto Trader, Easyjet, QinetiQ, Sage Group, BT and Walmart
Economic events:
France: HCOB manufacturing and services flash PMI for May
Germany: HCOB manufacturing and services flash PMI for May
UK: Flash manufacturing and services PMI for May, CBI Trends Orders for May
Debt auctions:
France: 3-year, 4-year, 6-year, 8-year, 10-year and 21-year government debt
Germany: 10-year government debt
UK: 10-year government debt
(Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
