ROME: European stock markets struggled for direction on Thursday, as investors digested more disappointing economic data out of Germany, and waited for news from the Bank of England and the U.S. Federal Reserve.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index SXXP, -0.05% was slightly lower at 360.81, but was swinging in and out of losses. The pan-European benchmark scored a four-day winning streak on Wednesday, its longest since early August, after weak economic readings from the U.S. and Europe rekindled hopes that monetary policy will remain accommodative for longer.
Central banks: The U.S. Fed kept rates at a record low at its September meeting, citing concerns over a slowdown in global growth. The minutes from that meeting will be released at 2 p.m. Eastern Time, or 7 p.m. London time on Thursday, after the European markets close.
The European Central Bank will also release the minutes of its last monetary policy discussions, at 12:30 p.m. London time, or 7:30 a.m. Eastern Time.
In the U.K., the Bank of England will deliver its latest interest rate decision at noon in London, or 7 a.m. Eastern Time. It is widely expected to keep the benchmark rate at a record low of 0.5%. Minutes from the policy makers’ meeting are released at the same time.
“Estimates are slightly dovish, as the manufacturing, services and the composite PMI have slowed in the past few months,” said Nour Al-Hammoury, chief market strategist at ADS Securities, in a note.
“However, inflation remains the key, and we believe the bank will be looking for this data set to improve before going for their first rate hike, which is most likely to be in the second half of next year,” he added.
The pound GBPUSD, +0.2285% traded at $1.5357 ahead of the rate call, up from $1.5318 late Wednesday in New York.
Data: German exports slumped 5.2% in August, the steepest decline since January 2009. That means the country’s trade surplus narrowed to 19.6 billion euros ($22.1 billion) from a revised €22.4 billion in July, undershooting forecasts of €22.5 billion.
“This suggests that a slowing world growth, and particularly China, has started to hurt German output. Indeed, Chinese data on imports from Germany confirms that Chinese demand for German products declined substantially in August,” said analysts at Rabobank in a note.
