Regent Street in London at Christmas time
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LONDON — European stock markets were mostly higher on Wednesday as investors braced for central bank decisions.
pan-european Stocks 600 It rose 0.3% immediately after the opening bell, with sectors mixed, with most major exchanges in positive territory.
The European Central Bank is scheduled to hold its last policy meeting of the year on Thursday, and European market participants will be keeping an eye on the central bank’s actions this week.
The central bank is expected to keep interest rates at 2%, but ECB President Christine Lagarde said she was likely to raise the euro zone’s growth outlook again. In September, it raised its annual GDP growth forecast to 1.2%.
The Bank of England, Riksbank and Norges Bank will also make their final monetary policy decisions for 2025 this week.
The BOE’s nine-member Monetary Policy Committee is expected to cut interest rates by 25 basis points to 3.75%, given signs that unemployment may rise on the back of lackluster growth.
British inflation fell to 3.2% in November from 3.6% the previous month, according to inflation figures released on Wednesday. of british pound The stock fell immediately after the news, and was last trading about 0.7% weaker against the US dollar.
GBP/USD price
Against the eurothe pound fell by about 0.5%.
Yields on British government bonds, known as gold, have fallen across the curve due to inflation. Benchmark yield 10 pension Last time it was down almost 7 basis points, but in the long run 30 year gold coin Yields fell by 5 basis points.
Bond prices and yields (which reflect the amount of interest governments pay on their debt) move in opposite directions. The UK currently has the highest long-term borrowing costs of the G7 countries. 20- And 30-year Treasuries are trading at yields above the important 5% threshold.
of london FTSE100 It rose 1% on Wednesday, leading regional gains. Financial services and home construction stocks, which reacted positively to November’s inflation data and the prospect of an impending interest rate cut, pushed the index higher. retirement savings company phoenix grouplast seen up 3.6%, top of the FTSE 100, homebuilder Barratt Redrowwhich rose 1.8%, also rose.
Elsewhere, drink a huge drink diageo announced Wednesday that it will sell a 65% stake in East Africa Breweries to Japan’s Asahi Holdings for about $2.3 billion. The stock price was most recently up 1.7%.
Globally, U.S. stock futures fell overnight after the S&P 500 recorded its third decline on Tuesday as investors focused on the U.S. employment situation after the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released data for both October (data release delayed due to the government shutdown) and November.
The data shows the U.S. economy shed 105,000 jobs in October, but added 64,000 jobs in November.
Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed on Wednesday as investors analyzed Japanese trade data.
—CNBC’s Liz Napolitano contributed to this market report.
