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Investing.com — European stock markets traded higher Thursday, amid cautious optimism following the inauguration of U.S. President Joe Biden and ahead of the latest ECB policy meeting.
At 3:55 AM ET (0855 GMT), the DAX in Germany traded 0.3% higher, the CAC 40 in France rose 0.1% and the U.K.’s FTSE index climbed 0.1%.
The European Central Bank is expected to keep interest rates and the pace of bond purchases unchanged later Thursday, given that it eased its policy substantially only last month.
That said, governments throughout the continent are preparing for a prolonged period of Covid-19 restrictions as new strains of the Covid-19 virus test national healthcare systems. Germany registered a record number of daily deaths on Wednesday, although its case numbers are down 40% from their December peak.
On the data front, sentiment in France’s manufacturing sector sentiment recovered in January, to the levels seen before the first Covid-inspired lockdown in March last year.
In corporate news, Sage (LON:SGE) stock soared 5.3% after the software company released a strong trading update. Sports betting company Entain (OTC:GMVHY) stock fell 0.3% despite reporting a 41% gain in online gaming revenue in the fourth quarter. MGM Resorts (NYSE:MGM) recently dropped its offer to buy the company after Entain’s management dismissed it as too low.
Elsewhere, Spanish cellphone mast operator Cellnex (MC:CLNX) stock rose 3.8% and German telecoms group Deutsche Telekom (OTC:DTEGY) stock rose 0.9% after the two companies announced plans to combine their tower business in the Netherlands.
President Biden took office on Wednesday, with the inauguration passing off without incident, prompting record high closes on Wall Street amid strong expectations of more economic stimulus from the new administration.
The incoming president has already proposed a $1.9 trillion fiscal stimulus plan, but although the Democrats have taken control of Congress they are still likely to need a degree of Republican support to pass the program.
Oil prices weakened Thursday after a surprise rise in U.S. crude stocks, according to data from the American Petroleum Institute, reignited concerns about the impact on demand from the pandemic in the world’s largest consumer.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration is due to release its weekly inventory report on Friday, two days later than usual due to the holiday and the inauguration.
U.S. crude futures traded 0.8% lower at $52.87 a barrel, while the international benchmark Brent contract fell 0.8% to $55.65.
Elsewhere, gold futures rose 0.2% to $1,870.35/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.3% higher at 1.2134.
