Investors digested the minutes from the latest Federal Reserve meeting on Thursday before Eurozone inflation data for July.
By 03:55 ET (07:55 GMT), Germany’s DAX was up 0.4%, France’s CAC 40 was up 0.1%, and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 was down 0.2%.
European markets have seen robust increases over the last month, buoyed by a healthy quarterly results season, but the inflationary outlook and future growth remain cautious.
Investors are waiting for the latest estimates of inflation in the Eurozone, scheduled at 05:00 ET (09:00 GMT). They aren’t expected to depart from preliminary projections. In July, they rose 8.9% year-over-year and 0.1% monthly.
Isabel Schnabel, an ECB board member, told Reuters Thursday that the Eurozone inflation forecast hasn’t improved since July, suggesting she’ll vote for another rate hike next month.
Minutes from the July Fed meeting, released Wednesday, revealed that officials saw “limited indication” of lessening inflation pressures.
Before the minutes were made public, most people thought that they meant that increases would slow down, but not that there would be cuts in 2023.
Uncertainty regarding the Fed’s September rate hike might keep stock markets in narrow trading ranges before next week’s Jackson Hole meeting.
AO World (LON:AO) stock climbed 13% after the British online electronics retailer announced it had stabilised its business outlook.
Adyen (AS: Adyen) stock plunged 11% after the Dutch payments company announced declining second-quarter profitability.
Made.com (LON: MADE) stock fell 8.9% after the struggling online furniture retailer announced plans to sell shares.
Oil prices held steady Thursday as traders weighed plunging U.S. stocks and global slowdown concerns.
U.S. oil stocks plummeted by 7.1 million barrels in the week to Aug. 12, far more than predicted, while exports hit a record and gasoline demand soared.
As fears of an economic slowdown linger, the market is on course for a weekly loss. Bearish feelings are fueled by the thought that the 2015 nuclear deal will be brought back to life and by more oil from Iran.
U.S. oil futures fell 0.1% to $88.06 a barrel at 3:55 ET, while Brent rose 0.1% to $93.72.
Gold futures were steady at $1,776.65/oz, and EUR/USD fell 0.2% to 1.0163.
