(Alliance News) - Stocks in London were called to open higher on Thursday, after a strong performance on Wall Street carried through to Asia, with investors encouraged by progress on debt ceiling discussions.

IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 index of large-caps to open 37.5 points, 0.5%, at 7,760.73 on Thursday. The FTSE 100 index closed down 27.85 points, 0.4%, at 7,723.23 on Wednesday.

"With yesterday's strong US finish in mind, we look set to carry that momentum into today's European open, although with bank holidays in France and Germany we can probably expect to see another quiet session," said CMC Markets' Michael Hewson.

Financial markets in Paris and Frankfurt will remain open for Ascension Day, but Zurich will be closed.

"US markets...finished their session strongly higher, taking their cues from comments from US President Biden expressing confidence that a deal would ultimately be agreed, confidence that was echoed by House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy."

In New York on Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 closed up 1.2%, and the Nasdaq Composite added 1.3%.

US President Biden said he is "confident" a deal can be reached with Republicans leaders to avert a potentially catastrophic US debt default, which could come as early as June 1.

Biden arrives Thursday in Hiroshima, Japan and will meet leaders from the rest of the G7 club – Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan.

However, visits next week to Papua New Guinea and to a Sydney meeting of the Quad, comprising Australia, India, Japan and the US, were cancelled so that Biden can rush back home Sunday and negotiate with Republican opponents on the debt crisis.

The dollar was little changed in early exchanges in Europe.

Sterling was quoted at USD1.2471 early Thursday, edging down from USD1.2474 at the London equities close on Wednesday.

The euro traded at USD1.0833, slightly higher than USD1.0826. Against the yen, the dollar was quoted at JPY137.52, up slightly versus JPY137.47.

In Asia on Thursday, the Nikkei 225 index was up 1.7%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was up 0.6%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was up 0.9%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney was up 0.5%.

Gold was quoted at USD1,978.95 an ounce early Thursday, lower than USD1,982.40 on Wednesday. Brent oil was trading at USD76.74 a barrel, up from USD75.96.

Thursday's economic calendar has the weekly US jobless claims report at 1330 BST.

In the UK corporate diary, luxury retailer Burberry and telecommunications provider BT report annual results. Budget airline easyJet posts half-year numbers.

By Elizabeth Winter, Alliance News senior markets reporter

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