European stocks maintain gains ahead of US-China trade talks

European stocks opened higher today, to maintain their gains for the second straight session, ahead of a minister-level round of the US-China trade talks scheduled later today.

Stoxx Europe 600 was higher by 0.1% as of 08:55 GMT, while it closed yesterday higher by 0.4%, its fourth daily gain in the last 5 sessions, on increased bets about a US rate cut and a surge in German exporting companies stocks.

The index opened Thursday's session higher, to maintain their gains for the second straight session, as most of the major European markets and sectors rose.

The Chinese Vice Premier Liu He will meet with the US trade representative Robert Lighthizer and US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in Washington later today to resume the trade talks between the world's two largest economies.

News reports quoted a Chinese government official saying on Wednesday that China is willing to talk about a possible partial deal with the US, but White House spokesperson told CNBC that President Trump has not make up his mind yet on the probability of a deal.

Additionally, the New York Times reported that President Trump will grant licenses for several US companies to sell nonsensitive supplies to the Chinese tech giant, Huawei.

S&P 500 futures shed 0.5% today, while it closed higher by 0.9% yesterday at Wall Street, in its first daily gain in the last 3 sessions.

The Euro Stoxx 50 index rose by 0.2%, in France the CAC 40 rose by 0.3%, and Germany's DAX rose by 0.1%, while in London the FTSE 100 fell by more than 0.1% unlike the upward trend in the rest of Europe.