European shares open higher amid rising trade war fears; OPEC in focus

European shares opened higher Wednesday morning, despite heightened fears of a full-blown Sino-U.S. trade war.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 was up around 0.46 percent shortly after the opening bell, with most sectors and major bourses in positive territory.

In Asia, China’s stock market tumbled again Wednesday, extending a rout from the previous session.

Beijing’s central bank stated in a working paper Tuesday that China should cut banks’ reserve requirement ratios to help ease their burdens, Reuters reported. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares, excluding Japan, rose 0.4 percent, though that follows Tuesday’s 2.1 percent fall.

Trade tensions between the U.S. and China showed little sign of abating Wednesday, after White House trade adviser Peter Navarro warned Beijing had underestimated President Donald Trump’s resolve to impose further tariffs.

The Trump administration threatened to impose a 10 percent charge on $200 billion of Chinese goods Monday after Beijing opted to raise tariffs on $50 billion in U.S. goods.

Back in Europe, OPEC ministers were seen gathering in Vienna ahead of a key summit to decide oil production policy on Friday.

Source: CNBC