European stocks rise over 1.5% ahead of ECB decisions

Economies.com
2021-12-16 11:48AM UTC

European stocks rose in early trading on Thursday, extending recovery from a 1-week low low for the second straight day, after the market absorbed the US Federal Reserve's decisions, amid anticipation of the European Central Bank’s decisions later today.

 

The Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 1.5% as of 11:25 GMT, after closing higher by 0.3% yesterday, within recovery from the lowest level in a week at 469.52 points.

 

The tech sector saw the largest gains in Europe today, with a rise of nearly 3%, extending its strong gains for the second session in a row.

 

S&P 500 futures rose 0.8% today ahead of Wall Street's opening, after the index higher 1.6% yesterday.

 

Markets have absorbed the US Federal Reserve hawkish decisions, which are expected to counter the highest spike in the US inflation rate since 1982.

 

The US Federal Reserve voted to maintain rates at record lows below 0.25%, while doubling the rate of reducing bond purchases to $30 billion a month, and now expects 3 rate hikes in 2022, and another 3 in 2023, and two in 2024.

 

The European Central Bank meeting will conclude later today to discuss the appropriate monetary policy for the recent historical jump in the inflation rate in the euro area, and renewed concerns about the Omicron variant in Europe.

 

Experts expect the ECB to adopt a hawkish approach, and to deliver strong cues about the future of its bond-buying program and interest rates.

 

The ECB decision and statement will be released at 12:45 GMT, President Christine Lagarde will speak at 13:30 GMT.

 

Back to Europe, the Euro Stoxx 50 index rose 1.7%, France's CAC 40 rose 1.6%, and Germany's DAX index rose 1.9%, while the UK's FTSE 100 rose 1.2%.

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