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Global stocks are moving without a single direction after the latest Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, which kept the US interest rates unchanged and denied and reduction of their values by the end of the year.

European equities retreated at the open as investors were disappointed by earnings and as mining shares fell on the stronger U.S. dollar, but later compensated some of the loses. Investors continue to analyze earnings reports for signs of strength or weakness of global and European growth. So far, the results have been mixed in Europe, with about 52% of companies beating estimates, compared with 76% delivering positive surprises in the US.

Late last night, the US Federal Reserve’s monetary policy committee left the key interest rate unchanged, indicating that interest rates could not be cut in the coming months. The Fed said the economy is in good condition by refusing to meet the desire of US President Donald Trump, who previously called on the central bank to cut interest rates drastically to speed up the growth of the economy.

The investors keep their focus on the trade talks between Washington and Beijing. On Wednesday evening, Reuters announced that the US and China were close to a trade deal that could remove part of the US duties imposed on Chinese imports. In the words of US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, the two countries have held “productive” talks in Beijing.

Asian markets recap

The main stock indexes in the Asia-Pacific ended today’s trading session without a single direction amid the two-day meeting of the Federal Reserve that left interest rates unchanged, explaining that their reduction is not foreseen by the end of the year.

In Hong Kong, the index Hang Seng added to its value 192.77 points, or 0.65%, ending the day at a level of 29,891.88 points.

The stock exchanges in Shanghai and Tokyo were closed today for holidays.

In South Korea, Kospi advanced by 0.42% to 2,212.75. The stocks of Samsung Electronics rose by 0.11%, while those of the SK Hynix microprocessor maker added 2.28%. The shares of LG Chem declined by 0.55%. On Tuesday, the battery manufacturer for electric cars accused SK Innovation of stealing trade secrets. LG Chem and its US unit filed a complaint against SK Innovation at the ITC, accusing the Seoul-based company of illegally acquiring a secret business by hiring former employees of the plaintiff.

In Australia, the index S&P ASX 200 dropped by 0.59% to 6,338.40 points, with most of the sectors also declining.

European markets mid-session recap

European equities retreated at the open on Thursday, but later most of them succeed to compensate the early loss.

German index DAX 30 is trading with an increase of 38.11 points, or 0.31%, to 12,382.19 points at 10:15 GMT. German retail sales fell by 0.2% on the month in March, due largely to sharp drops in sales of food, drink, and tobacco. Meanwhile, the April final manufacturing PMI was revised to 44.4 points from the preliminary 44.5 points. The stocks of carmakers Daimler and Volkswagen were sharp into the green, rising by 1.1% and 4.4%, respectively. The shares of the financial giant Deutsche Bank added 1.55%, while pharmaceutical company Bayer rose by 3.5% after UBS Group reiterates 110 EUR per share price target for its stocks. However, on the opposite side is the software company SAP, which stocks fell by 1.5%.

French index CAC 40 is down by 24.21 points, or 0.43%, to 5,562.20 points at mid-session trading. The final manufacturing PMI in the country was revised upward to 50.0 points, compared to preliminary 49.6 points. Renault and Peugeot added 1.12% and 1.42%, respectively. Aircraft manufacturer Airbus is down by 0.56%.

British index FTSE 100 is marginally up by 0.03% to 7,387.19 points. The strong results from Shell and Smith & Nephew capped early losses. Smith & Nephew added 2.5%, while Royal Dutch Shell appreciated by 0.88%. On the opposite side was Lloyds, which stocks dropped by 0.55% after releasing of the first-quarter earnings report.

Wall Street pre-session recap

The US stock index futures edged higher on Thursday morning, as market participants digested comments from the Federal Reserve.

Around 6:20 a.m. ET, Dow futures indicated a positive open of about 30 points. Futures on the S&P and Nasdaq were both marginally higher.

The markets will focus on the jobless claims, productivity data, and unit labor costs, which will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, followed by factory orders at 10 a.m. ET.