A look at the day ahead in European and global markets from

Kevin Buckland

Some respite for Asian stock markets may bode well for the

European open, in what has so far been a week to forget for

world equities.

Part of that seems to be driven by hopes for strong results

from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co ( TSM ), aka TSMC,

undoing the gloom from Dutch chip-equipment maker ASML's

lacklustre new bookings.

The sentiment shift was evident in Tokyo, where chip-testing

equipment maker Advantest ( ADTTF ) - an Nvidia ( NVDA ) supplier

- marched steadily from being down 2.5% at the open to enter the

midday recess with a 4% gain.

Notably, U.S. mega tech earnings kick off later on Thursday,

starting with Netflix.

Investors were likely also cheered by the promise of more

stability in currency markets, after a Japanese official said a

G-7 statement would acknowledge that excessive FX swings can

hurt economic growth, in a nod to concerns about the effects of

the weakest yen in 34 years.

If that helps draw a line on the dollar's explosive

resurgence, it may be felt in Asia most, where the risk of

competitive devaluations was simmering. But the effect will

ripple across the rest of the world as well, providing some

extra bounce for the euro and sterling as they

recover from multi-month troughs.

The monetary policy picture globally hasn't changed though,

with bets on the Federal Reserve being the first of the biggest

central banks to cut rates this year flipping in recent weeks to

them being the last.

The barrage of commentary from global financial leaders

continues on Thursday, with the International Monetary Fund and

World Bank Spring meetings in Washington, among other major

events.

ECB vice-president Luis de Guindos presents the bank's

annual report and his colleagues Joachim Nagel, Isabel Schnabel,

Mario Centeno, Gediminas Simkus and Boris Vujcic are also on the

podium at various venues.

The Bank of England's Megan Greene also speaks and has taken

a hawkish tone in recent comments, warning of inflation risks

from the Middle East and pushing back against bets that rate

cuts would come quicker than in the United States.

Key developments that could influence markets on Thursday:

-IMF/World Bank meetings in Washington

-TSMC, Netflix earnings

(Editing by Sam Holmes)