European stocks edge higher ahead of central bank meetings
The market’s attention this week will be on a series of regional central bank decisions as investors seek knowledge over the path of interest rates into the new year
European stocks edged higher Wednesday ahead of a series of regional central bank policy meetings, with soft inflation data helping the U.K. market.
At 08:05 GMT, the DAX index in Germany jumped 0.2%, the CAC 40 in France gained 0.2% and the FTSE 100 in the U.K. soared 0.8%.
The market’s attention this week will be on a series of regional central bank decisions as investors seek knowledge over the path of interest rates into the new year.
The European Central Bank (ECB) is expected to keep rates at 2% on Thursday, with recent data pointing to a degree of resilience in the eurozone’s economy.
Business activity growth has slowed more than expected at the end of the year, as a contraction in manufacturing deepened while services growth slowed.
The November eurozone CPI figure is due for release later in the session, but this is unlikely to influence ECB decision makers unduly.
The Riksbank and Norges Bank also hold their last monetary policy decisions for 2025 this week, while inflation data released earlier this session should help the Bank of England’s policymakers decide to cut interest rates once more.
Annual U.K. consumer price inflation increased 3.2% in November, a sharp decline from 3.6% the prior month, and the lowest figure in eight months, while the monthly release actually dropped 0.2%.
The BoE voted 5-4 to leave rates unchanged last month, but the falling prices could well help policymakers decide to bring borrowing costs down to 3.75% from 4%, the lowest rate since the beginning of February 2023.
In the corporate sector, Thyssenkrupp Nucera reported fourth-quarter results that were broadly in line with its November pre-release, with sales slightly ahead of consensus and earnings broadly unchanged versus expectations.
Serco has raised its profit guidance for 2025 and provided a positive outlook for 2026, driven by strong performance across its government services business.
Bunzl, the specialist international distribution and services group, said that its 2025 adjusted operating profit will be in line with expectations, despite ongoing economic challenges in key markets.