Reuters

A bounce across financials and tech stocks helped European stocks nudge higher on Thursday.

BOJ member Makoto Sakurai said excessive easing could destabilize the economy and suggested BOJ could whittle down its stimulus program.

Asian shares fell after the U.S. launched a national security probe into car imports that could lead to new tariffs.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday signaled a new direction in U.S.-China trade talks and said any deal would need “a different structure.”

The euro fell to near three-month lows against the Swiss franc on Wednesday due to fresh data indicating a slowdown in European business activity, while concerns over Italian politics rose.

Italy’s incoming government should aim to cut its heavy public debt, the European Commission said on Wednesday.

Italian President Sergio Mattarella has summoned Giuseppe Conte for a meeting on Wednesday, the president’s office said.

Investors sold equities on Wednesday and raced to buy yen and government bonds on fears that setbacks to U.S-China trade talks would undermine increasingly fragile-looking world growth.

Asian shares were mostly weak with investors cautious after Trump tempered optimism over progress made so far in trade talks with China.

Congress passed bipartisan legislation that would ease bank rules introduced in the wake of the 2007-2009 financial crisis.