Benzinga | Apr 03, 2014 05:10AM ET
Markets will be focused on the European Central Bank’s policy meeting, set to take place later on Thursday.
Most analysts are expecting the bank to keep interest rates at their current record low level of 0.25 percent. However, in light of recent disappointing inflation data most expect the bank to ease at some point in the future.
There has been talk of the bank using a negative deposit rate or an asset purchase program to inject more liquidity into the financial system in order to combat the threat of deflation; but it remains to be seen whether or not the bank will act.
h3 Top News /h3In other news around the markets:
Asian markets were mixed; the Japanese NIKKEI gained 0.84 percent, Australia’s ASX200 and New Zealand’s NZ50 were both up 0.12 percent and the Hang Seng index rose 0.18 percent. However, the Shanghai composite lost 0.74 percent, the Shenzhen composite was down 0.12 percent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 0.18 percent.
h3 European Markets/h3European markets were also mixed; the UK’s FTSE was up 0.16 percent, the eurozone’s STOXX600 gained 0.04 percent, Italy’s MIB was up 0.79 percent and the Spanish IBEX rose 0.94 percent. However, the German DAX lost 0.07 percent and France’s CAC 40 was down 0.01 percent.
h3 Commodities/h3Energy futures were lower; Brent futures lost 0.10 percent and WTI futures were down 0.38 percent. Gold rose 0.59 percent, silver gained 1.00 percent, and industrial metals were also higher. Aluminum gained 1.89 percent and zinc rose 0.05 percent.
h3 Currencies/h3The euro was steady at $1.3766 ahead of the ECB meeting, but the pound lost 0.12 percent against the greenback. The dollar gained 0.12 percent against the yen and 0.34 percent against the Australian dollar.
h3 Earnings/h3Notable earnings released on Wednesday included:
Stocks moving in the Premarket included:
Notable earnings releases expected on Thursday include:
The focus will be on Europe on Thursday as the European Central Bank holds its April policy meeting. Other notable economic releases will include services PMI from Spain, Italy, France, Germany, the UK and the eurozone, the Canadian trade balance, US initial and continuing jobless claims, and the US trade balance.
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