Aug 25, 2022 01:57AM ET
By: AnalysisWatch
European stock markets are expected to rise on Thursday, ahead of the start of the widely anticipated economic symposium in Jackson Hole, as well as the publication of the minutes of the last ECB meeting and key data on business sentiment in Germany.
By 02:00 GMT, the DAX futures contract in Germany was trading 0.4% higher, the CAC 40 futures contract in France was up 0.5%, and the FTSE 100 futures contract in the UK was up 0.3%.
There is currently a lot of caution circulating in global stock markets, and Europe is no exception ahead of the start of the US Federal Reserve's annual meeting in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, later on Thursday.
Markets are bracing for the U.S. central bank to reaffirm its commitment to beating inflation, even at the cost of the world's largest economy falling into a deep slowdown, and Fed Chairman Jerome Powell's speech on Friday is likely to set the tone for the months ahead.
In Europe, the outlook is even bleaker. The sharp rise in energy prices adds to the likelihood that inflation will rise further from current historical levels, while growth expectations are deteriorating.
German gross domestic product data confirmed growth of just 0.1% in the second quarter of the year in the eurozone's largest economy and main driver of growth, turning attention to the release of the Ifo business climate index later in the session.
This index is expected to report a decline to 86.8 points in August from 88.6 points in the previous month, reinforcing signals that the continent's most important economy is entering recession.
Later on Thursday, the minutes of the European Central Bank's latest meeting are expected to be published.
At that meeting, the ECB raised interest rates by a more-than-expected 50 basis points last month, and the report is likely to contain a hawkish message as the central bank tries to curb hot inflation.