By Ben St. Clair 
   -- Turkish lira rises for third-straight day, up 2.6% 
 
   -- Emerging-market index nears bear market 
 
   -- Commodities prices gain 

European stocks rose Thursday as metals prices gained, while a tech selloff sent Asian shares lower despite a modest breakthrough in U.S.-China trade tensions.

The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.3% in morning trading, led higher by the basic-resources and technology sectors. Futures pointed to a 0.3% opening gain for the S&P 500.

Shares in mining giants BHP Billiton, Glencore and Rio Tinto rebounded and were each up over 1% as metals prices partially bounced back from Wednesday's rout. Copper gained 1.1% to $5,897 a metric ton in London.

Asian stocks fell further Thursday, with the Shanghai Composite Index down 0.7% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng 0.8% lower. Japan's Nikkei edged slightly lower after the country posted a larger-than-expected trade deficit for July.

The moves came as trade tensions between the U.S. and China appeared to ease slightly after the two countries said they would hold lower-level talks later in August. The discussions would be the first since May when talks fell through and both sides have slapped penalties on tens of billions of dollars in each other's goods.

Declines in technology companies Tencent and Samsung helped drive the MSCI Emerging Markets Index near bear market territory, typically defined as a 20% drop from a recent peak.

Shares in Tencent were down 3% a day after the company posted a decline in profit and unexpectedly weak quarterly sales. Samsung stock fell 2%. The two companies make up roughly 8.6% of the MSCI index.

A stronger dollar and trade tensions have put pressure on developing economies in recent months, and Turkey's currency crisis has added to the strain as investors remained wary of possible contagion.

Still, the lira posted gains for its third straight day. The Turkish currency rose 2.6% in morning European trading, with one dollar buying 5.8084 lira. In a show of support Wednesday, Qatar said it would inject $15 billion into Turkey with a package that includes direct investments and deposits. Later Thursday, Finance Minister Berat Albayrak is expected to hold a conference call with investors.

In the U.S., a surge in retail sales added to optimistic economic indicators. The U.S. spending measure rose a seasonally adjusted 0.5% in July from a month earlier, above the 0.1% increase economists had forecasted.

Elsewhere, yields on 10-year U.S. Treasurys rose to 2.876% from 2.852% Wednesday. Yields and prices move in opposite directions.

The WSJ Dollar Index, which measures the U.S. currency against a basket of 16 others, dropped 0.3%.

In commodities, Brent crude was up 0.2% to $70.88 a barrel, and gold gained 0.2% to $1,187.60 an ounce.

Mike Bird contributed to this article.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 16, 2018 05:58 ET (09:58 GMT)

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