Investing.com – European stock markets rose on Thursday as market participants eye the European Central Bank’s first interest rate cut since 2019.
At 03:05 ET (0705 GMT), Germany was trading 0.6% higher, France was up 0.4% and the UK was up 0.1%.
ECB intends to cut interest rates
The bank wraps up its final policy meeting later in the session and is expected to join the central banks of Canada, Sweden and Switzerland in cutting rates.
The central bank is expected to cut its deposit rate to 3.75% from a record 4.0%, the first cut since 2019.
ECB policymakers have signaled that enough progress has been made in tackling inflation to justify easing, with consumer prices falling from more than 10% at the end of 2022 to just above the central bank’s 2% target.
However, recent data showed that prices have risen, indicating that inflation in the eurozone may be more resilient than expected, creating uncertainty about what will follow this likely rate cut.
This brings ECB President Christine Lagarde’s post-rate decision press conference to the fore as the market looks for clues about future policy steps.
Money markets are forecasting one or two more interest rate cuts, possibly in September and December.
Pending the ECB’s announcement, eurozone data for April will be released later in the session. They are expected to show a decline of 0.2% compared to the previous month, and a slight increase of 0.1% year-on-year.
Nvidia’s market value exceeds $3 trillion
In the corporate sector, the focus will likely be on chipmakers after shares of market darling Nvidia (NASDAQ:) rose more than 4% on Wednesday, pushing its all-time value above $3 trillion, surpassing Apple (NASDAQ: ) and took second place in cost. company.
The rise in Nvidia shares follows recent strong quarterly results, which bolstered further bets that the rise in AI-related semiconductor spending will continue. In its quarterly results, the chipmaker also announced a 10-for-1 stock split that will take effect Friday, making its shares more accessible to a broader group of investors.
Oil heads for weekly losses
Oil prices rose on Thursday, helped by overall positive sentiment, but are still on track for huge weekly losses.
By 3:05 a.m. ET, WTI futures were trading 0.8% higher at $74.67 a barrel, with the contract up 0.7% at $78.92 a barrel.
Both contracts are down about 4% on a weekly basis, tempered by a decision by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies to leave room for voluntary production cuts that will be phased out starting in October.
The crude oil market was also hit by news that US crude inventories jumped 1.2 million barrels in the week to May 31, compared with forecasts for 2.3 million barrels, US data showed.