By Georgi Kantchev

Global stocks inched higher Thursday as investors continued to parse the latest signals on international trade.

The Stoxx Europe 600 was up 0.2% in early morning trade, following a mixed session in Asia. In the U.S., futures pointed to a 0.1% opening gain for the S&P 500.

Rising frictions in global trade have rocked markets this year, with the U.S. and China imposing a new round of tariffs this week. The introduction of the latest U.S. levies on Chinese imports, however, will be staggered, with some investors expressing hope that there is still time for negotiations to avert a full-blown trade war between the world's two biggest economies.

Investors were also monitoring talks between the U.S. and Canada on the future of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Despite the trade tensions, the U.S. stock market has been resilient, with the S&P 500 just 0.2% off its all-time high hit on Aug. 29, amid strong corporate earnings and robust economic data.

"The fundamental backdrop continues to be very solid but I won't be surprised to see more anxiousness in the market as trade continues to be an issue," said Eric Wiegand, senior portfolio manager at U.S. Bank Wealth Management. "Any headlines about dialogue between trading partners help sentiment."

Economists are also trying to gauge the impact trade frictions would have on the global economy.

Citigroup said in a report to clients that a worsening trade environment represents "a material risk to growth into 2019." The bank lowered its forecast for global growth this year to 3.3%, the first downward revision since October 2017, with the same rate expected next year.

Investors are looking to next week's Federal Reserve meeting, with most expecting the U.S. central bank to raise interest rates. The market currently sees a 94% chance of a rate rise at the meeting, according to Fed-fund futures tracked by CME Group. Traders were also eyeing the central bank's projected path for 2019.

The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield fell to 3.066%, compared with 3.081% on Wednesday, its highest close since late May. Yields move inversely to prices.

The WSJ Dollar Index, which tracks the dollar against a basket of 16 currencies, was down 0.2%.

Investors continued to monitor developments in Turkey, where Finance Minister Berat Albayrak Thursday announced lower growth projections and pledged to focus government action on savings, following a 40% plunge in the lira this year. The currency was last up 0.7% against the dollar.

In Asia, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average finished flat while Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 0.3%.

In commodities, Brent crude, the global oil price benchmark, was up 0.3% while gold was down 0.1%.

Write to Georgi Kantchev at georgi.kantchev@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 20, 2018 05:47 ET (09:47 GMT)

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