European Shares Seen Higher At Open

European stocks are likely to open higher on Thursday as investors bet on a Democratic sweep in next month's U.S. election.

Goldman Sachs wrote that a 'blue wave' ' in which Democrats gain unified control of Washington would "sharply raise the probability" of a fiscal stimulus package of at least $2 trillion shortly after the January 20 inauguration.

Asian markets are rising as polls put Joe Biden's national lead close to double digits and U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi signaled openness to an airline-relief bill in a call with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

The dollar retraced marginally and gold traded flat, while oil prices edged up as a hurricane forced the suspension of some operations in the Gulf of Mexico.

In economic releases, Destatis is set to publish German foreign trade figures later in the day. Economists expect exports and imports to grow 1.4 percent each on a monthly basis in August.

U.S. stocks rallied overnight as U.S. President Trump's tweet raised hopes of incremental stimulus sometime soon and the Federal Reserve's September meeting minutes revealed there was a consensus among members to keep policy accommodative to support the economic recovery.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite jumped around 1.9 percent each, while the S&P 500 added 1.7 percent.

European markets ended mixed on Wednesday after Trump called off negotiations over a broader relief package, but indicated he would support individual stimulus measures.

The pan European Stoxx 600 slid 0.1 percent. The German DAX rose 0.2 percent, and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended little changed while France's CAC 40 index eased 0.3 percent as authorities put Paris and three neighboring areas on the top Covid-19 alert level.