- Siemens rises as U.S. chip software curbs on China lifted
- Shares of Redcare Pharmacy gain as Q2 revenue grows
- Jeronimo Martins up after JPM reiterates 'overweight' rating
- U.S. nonfarm payrolls report due on Thursday
July 3 (Reuters) - European shares nudged higher on Thursday, supported by easing U.S.-Sino trade tensions and renewed optimism around global trade deals following a U.S.-Vietnam agreement ahead of the July 9 tariff deadline.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index was up 0.3% at 542.86 points, as of 0831 GMT. Other major regional indexes also traded higher.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he had sealed a trade deal with Vietnam, under which Washington will impose a reduced 20% tariff on many Vietnamese exports - lower than initially proposed.
Also supporting market sentiment, the U.S. lifted export restrictions on Chinese-bound shipments from chip design software developers and ethane producers.
"There's enough progress on the trade front to keep markets happy ... the July deadline does continue to worry people, but the temptation is to go with the previous expectation that they will find a way to shift the deadline to make it less meaningful," said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG.
European insurance sector climbed about 1% while the financials index also gained nearly 1%.
The UK's blue-chip FTSE 100 recovered after slipping 0.1% on Wednesday on renewed worries over the country's public finances and uncertainty surrounding the future of finance minister Rachel Reeves.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said late on Wednesday that Reeves will be in the post "for a very long time to come," giving Reeves his full backing.
British stocks Bellway and Vistry were up 2.6% and 3.8%, respectively, on Thursday.
German engineering company Siemens AG, one of the world's largest electronic design automation software developers, rose 1% after announcing it would restore access to its software and technology for Chinese customers, in response to easing U.S.-China trade tensions.
Shares in semiconductor company Infineon were up 1.2%.
Redcare Pharmacy gained 3.3% after the German online drug retailer posted preliminary second-quarter revenue above last year's levels and confirmed its annual outlook.
Jeronimo Martins rose nearly 4% after J.P.Morgan reiterated its "overweight" rating on the Portuguese food retailer.
Shares in European renewable energy companies extended gains from the previous session, with Vestas up 2.5% and Orsted rising 1.2%.
Meanwhile, the U.S. House of Representatives advanced Trump's sweeping tax-cut and spending bill, paving the way for a possible vote on the legislation later in the day.
Investors also await U.S. nonfarm payrolls data, due later in the day, a key indicator that could influence potential rate cuts as Federal Reserve officials assess the impact of tariffs on inflation.
Reporting by Sukriti Gupta and Sanchayaita Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee and Sherry Jacob-Phillips
Source: Reuters