By David Hodari 

Global stocks mostly edged higher on Thursday, as a relatively upbeat corporate earnings season so far offset lingering concerns about the global economy.

The Stoxx Europe 600 was up 0.4% in the opening minutes of trading. The tech sector was its sharpest gainer, climbing 1.6%, as semiconductor manufacturer STMicroelectronics rose 8.9% after releasing its earnings report.

Renault shares reversed early losses to advance 0.8% after the news that Chief Executive and Chairman Carlos Ghosn resigned Wednesday night.

Placid trading in Europe followed a similar session in Asia, where Hong Kong's Hang Seng and the Shanghai Composite Index each climbed 0.4%, with both indexes paring most of the losses incurred earlier in the week following weak Chinese growth figures. As in Europe, the Hong Kong benchmark was buoyed by tech stocks.

Japan's Nikkei benchmark slipped 0.1%, pulling back for a fifth trading session in the past seven, after the country's manufacturing purchasing managers index fell to neutral in January, ending a 2 1/2 -year growth streak. That followed gloomy export figures the previous day.

U.S. futures pointed to flat opens for the S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite Index. Wednesday saw the weakest volumes on the New York Stock Exchange so far in 2019, with investors struggling to navigate a mix of economic and political forces.

Global equities have endured a choppy week, with Tuesday bringing the largest one-day fall of the year so far for U.S. indexes. Fears of sagging global growth have taken the shine off a cautiously optimistic corporate earnings season.

That said, market participants had relatively soft expectations for this batch of results, as it would be tough to beat last year's tax-cut-fueled profits.

The weakest Chinese annual growth figures since 1990, released Monday, have since been followed by many weakening indicators from Germany and Japan among other major economic powers.

Adding to that picture were remarks from Kevin Hassett, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, that the U.S. economy may not grow at all in the first quarter if the partial government shutdown continues.

The latest round of sparring between Democrats and Republicans came over whether the president's State of the Union address will take place next week as previously planned. President Trump eventually said late Wednesday that he wouldn't deliver his State of the Union address until the government reopened.

The yield on 10-year U.S. Treasurys was last 2.736%, down from 2.755% late Wednesday. Yields fall as prices rise. The WSJ Dollar index, meanwhile, was up 0.2%.

Markets have been largely unperturbed by the longest shutdown in U.S. history -- it is now entering its 34th day -- but economists increasingly fear the impasse could stymie first-quarter growth in the world's largest economy.

Ultimately, it is within the power of central banks around the world, particularly the Federal Reserve, to extend the business cycle by adjusting monetary policy accordingly, said Shawn Snyder, head of investment strategy at Citi Personal Wealth Management.

While markets were awaiting guidance from the European Central Bank's first meeting of the year, that event was "overshadowed by China growth and the federal government shutdown, because you're starting to see GDP estimates being revised down and policy fall victim to politics. That's unsettling for markets," Mr. Snyder added.

The ECB was widely expected to leave rates unchanged, although any remarks on bond-buying and the global economy will be closely watched. Markets were also awaiting U.S. jobless figures as well as manufacturing and services data.

The yield on 10-year German government bonds was last at 0.154%, down from 0.178% late Wednesday.

U.S. markets were also awaiting results from Bristol-Myers Squibb, American Airlines, and Freeport-McMoRan, with economic releases on joblessness, manufacturing and services also expected.

In commodities, Brent crude oil was mostly flat at $61.16 a barrel.

Write to David Hodari at David.Hodari@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 24, 2019 05:10 ET (10:10 GMT)

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