European stocks edged higher on Thursday as investors digest the regional and global economic outlook. The pan-European Stoxx 600 reversed course to add 0.1% by 2:38 p.m. in London (9:38 a.m. ET), with major bourses and sectors mostly higher following broadly negative moves earlier in the session. It comes after a positive trading session yesterday, with the Stoxx 600 closing almost 1.1% higher and most sectors and major regional bourses in the green. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index closed 1.23% higher at 50,167.1, led by tech stocks, while the Topix index added 0.39% to 3,368.57. South Korea’s Kospi advanced 0.66% to 3,986.91, while the small-cap Kosdaq climbed 0.31% to 880.06. Australia’s ASX/S&P 200 rose 0.13% to close at 8,617.3. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index and mainland’s CSI 300 closed flat at 25,945.93 and 4,515.4, respectively. Oil prices steadied on Thursday as market participants weighed talks to end the war in Ukraine against the impact of Western sanctions against Russian supply, though trading was set to remain thin due to the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday. Brent crude futures rose 9 cents or 0.1% to stand at $63.22 a barrel as of 1102 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures gained 19 cents or 0.3% to $58.84 a barrel. U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff is set to travel to Moscow next week with other senior U.S. officials for talks with Russian leaders on a possible plan to end the nearly four-year-old war in Ukraine, the deadliest in Europe since World War Two. Gold prices edged lower on Thursday, easing from a near two-week high hit in the previous session, while investors assessed the likelihood of a U.S. interest rate cut in December. Spot gold was down 0.2% at $4,156.89 per ounce, as of 1216 GMT. U.S. gold futures for December delivery slipped 0.2% to $4,154.40 per ounce. “We still expect the consolidation that started with the October setback to continue as the dust of that setback has not fully settled yet,” said Julius Baer analyst Carsten Menke. Bullion has fallen 5% since hitting a record high of $4,381.21 on October 20, but has broadly traded above the key 4,000 an ounce level.