European stocks opened higher on Thursday as investors await another big batch of earnings reports.

SoftBank posted a $2.4 billion gain at its Vision Fund as a jump in the value of its OpenAI investment helped offset losses in some of its other bets.

The Shanghai STAR AI Industry Index climbed 1.7% before paring gains.

U.S. officials have identified DP World's Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem as the recipient of a 2009 email from Jeffrey Epstein regarding a supposed "torture video." 

A year after Trump's tariffs spooked manufacturers and customers, Chinese factories and ports were humming unfethered ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday.

Attorney General Pam Bondi at a House Judiciary Committee hearing seemed to have a printout of Rep. Jayapal's search history related to Epstein.

Japan's Nikkei 225 has notched several firsts in recent days, crossing 56,000, then 57,000 and nearing 58,000, fueled by the so-called "Takaichi trade."

Other markets in Asia also shrugged off strong U.S. payrolls data that has dampened expectations for Federal Reserve rate cuts and sent Wall Street lower overnight.

Republican House leaders tried, and failed, to pass a measure on Tuesday that would have blocked House disapproval votes on Trump tariffs through July.