The FTSE 100 (^FTSE) and European stocks pushed higher on Thursday as the European Central Bank (ECB) is expected to cut interest rates this afternoon for its third time this year.
Policymakers are under pressure to cut after eurozone inflation was estimated to fall below the 2% target in September.
The euro dipped to its lowest level in two and a half months ahead of the meeting, trading back around $1.0850.
Neil Hutchison, European liquidity strategies portfolio manager at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, said: “With Halloween on the horizon, we’re not expecting any scary surprises from the ECB this week. Spooked by weaker PMI business survey data, the ECB is likely to deliver a 0.25% rate cut.
“Recent cooling in inflation data means they’re less burdened by potential price pressures. With minimal pushback from ECB members, markets would be surprised if a cut didn’t happen.
“Beyond this meeting, the outlook is currently enveloped in a Halloween haze, with concerns over a potential growth slowdown and geopolitical tensions, amid resilient wage growth and low unemployment.”
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London’s benchmark index was treading water in early trade
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Germany’s DAX (^GDAXI) was 0.6% higher and the CAC (^FCHI) in Paris headed 0.5% into the green
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The pan-European STOXX 600 (^STOXX) was up 0.2%
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Wall Street is set to open higher as S&P 500 futures (ES=F), Dow futures (YM=F) and Nasdaq futures (NQ=F) were all in the green
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The pound was down against the US dollar (GBPUSD=X) at 1.2984
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