(Alliance News) - European stocks opened higher Thursday, with the positive trend driven by optimism surrounding the potential breakthrough in U.S. debt ceiling talks, with expectations that a resolution could be reached as early as next weekend.

On the monetary policy front, in the CME Group platform's FedWatch Tool, using futures also based on the actual federal funds rate, or EFFR, the confirmation of the rate at the June 14 meeting has a 72 percent probability predicted for confirmation in the 500/525 bps range. In contrast, the 25 bps hike in the 525/550 bps target is priced at 18 percent.

Hawkish remarks by Federal Reserve officials this week have supported the greenback. In the latest commentary, Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said it would be "too premature to talk about rate cuts," while Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester said rates would not yet be at a point where the central bank could be satisfied on the inflation side.

Investors await weekly claims on unemployment benefits to gauge the strength of the labor market.

The FTSE Mib, thus marks a 0.9 percent rise to 27,441.05. Put/call ratio volumes mark 0.94.

Among the smaller listings, the Mid-Cap is picking up 0.6 percent to 43,310.15, the Small-Cap in the green by 0.6 percent to 28,130.70, and Italy Growth is in the fractional red at 9,127.40.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 advances 0.5 percent, the CAC 40 advances 0.8 percent, and Frankfurt's DAX 40 trades 1.1 percent higher.

On the Mib, good start for STMicroelectronics, which advances 1.3% to EUR40.32.

Stellantis, on the other hand, advances with 1.2% with price at EUR15.00, on the heels of eve's 1% gain.

Eni, on the other hand, advances with 0.8%. The company disclosed Wednesday that it had purchased 980,441 of its own shares for a total value of EUR13.0 million.

Saipem--leading the way with 3.1 percent assets--reported Thursday that it has been awarded two new offshore contracts, one for an Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Installation project in the Black Sea and one for decommissioning activities in the North Sea. The total value of the contracts is about USD850 million.

Among the few bearish A2A gives up 2.1 percent, following up on the previous two bearish sessions.

On the Mid-Cap, strength on Industrie de Nora stock, which advances 2.5 percent in its fifth bullish session.

Saras, on the other hand, advances 1.4 percent, following eve's green with 1.4 percent.

Among the bearish few on the list is Salvatore Ferragamo, which retreats 0.5% to EUR15.47 per share.

Red also for Technogym, which gives up 0.3 percent after eve's gain of 1.3 percent.

On the Small-Cap, it leads the bullish Itway, which scores a plus 6.4% with new price at EUR1.29 rearing its head again after two bearish sessions.

Pierrel, on the other hand, is picking up 5.5 percent to EUR0.1430, also turning upward after two closings in the red.

Among the SMBs, rear-ends for Giglio.com, after eve's gain of 0.7 percent. The stock had previously come from six sessions on the bearish side.

Svas Biosana - in the red by 0.5 percent - announced that it has initiated a new program to buy back its own ordinary shares. The purchases may be for a maximum of ordinary shares, with no indication of par value, equal to 20 percent of the share capital and may be made for a maximum purchased value of EUR1.5 million.

Cellularline - in the green by 0.7 percent - announced the creation of an operational hub in the Jebel Ali Free Zone, Dubai, in order to better serve the Middle East region by drastically reducing delivery times, facilitating operations and improving service quality.

In New York on the European night, the Dow rose 1.2 percent, the Nasdaq picked up 1.3 percent, and the S&P 500 advanced 1.2 percent.

In Asia, the Nikkei picked up 1.6 percent, the Shanghai Composite 0.4 percent, while the Hang Seng marks a green of 0.8 percent.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0826 versus USD1.0834 at Wednesday's close. In contrast, the pound is worth USD1.2467 from USD1.2482 last night.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD76.52 per barrel versus USD76.50 per barrel last night. Gold, on the other hand, trades at USD1,977.98 an ounce from USD1,981.99 an ounce at Wednesday's European equities close.

On Thursday's macroeconomic calendar, in the morning, at 1100 CEST comes ECB President Christine Lagarde's speech.

At 1430 CEST, from the US, it's the turn of unemployment benefit claims. At 1730 CEST, there is an auction of Treasury bonds with 4- and 8-week maturities.

Among the companies in the Piazza Affari, the results of Cover 50, Health Italia, SIT and Triboo are expected.

By Maurizio Carta, Alliance News senior reporter

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