Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks during Ministerial Statement on the Middle East at the House of Commons in London, Britain, April 13, 2026.
© House Of Commons | Via Reuters
LONDON — European stocks traded broadly higher Thursday as investors keep an eye on political developments in the U.K. and U.S. President Donald Trump’s trip to China.
By 3:10 p.m. in London, the pan-European Stoxx 600 was 0.6% higher, with most sectors and major bourses in positive territory.
Tech and media stocks led gains, while miners and banks lagged the broader index.
The U.K.’s political turbulence is expected to stay high up on the news agenda in Europe on Thursday as Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s leadership remains vulnerable to challenges.
Reports on Wednesday suggested Health Secretary Wes Streeting could be prepared to launch a leadership bid on Thursday. Investors are keeping an eye on the country’s borrowing costs as the uncertainty continues.
Meanwhile, Angela Rayner — seen in the U.K. as another frontrunner to replace Starmer — said she had been cleared by tax authorities of wrongdoing on Thursday, following an investigation into her failure to pay the correct amount of stamp duty, a tax on property ownership in Britain. Rayner resigned as deputy prime minister last year after admitting she did not pay the full amount of stamp duty owed on an £800,000 ($1.08 million) apartment.
Yields on U.K. government bonds, known as gilts, fell across the curve on Thursday, with the benchmark 10-year gilt yield last seen trading 2 basis points lower. The British pound fell 0.3% against the U.S. dollar.
Elsewhere, U.S. President Donald Trump’s trip to Beijing for a highly anticipated presidential summit with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, is in focus for global markets amid hopes the two superpowers can stabilize their relationship.
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Trump is being accompanied on the trip by a group of executives, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Nvidia boss Jensen Huang.
The relationship between the two countries will be “better than ever before,” Trump told Xi as the leaders met Thursday. He’s already held his first bilateral meeting with X and is due to tour the historic Temple of Heaven before attending a state banquet.
In corporate news, Burberry stock dropped 6% on Thursday after the British luxury giant reported weakened performance in Europe and the Middle East, which weighed on its ongoing turnaround efforts.
