European stocks were higher on Thursday, pending a decision by the European Central Bank, after investors celebrated easing bond yields.
Six of the last eight sessions, the Stoxx Europe 600 SXXP,
rose 0.2%.
The return on the US 10-year Treasury TMUBMUSD10Y,
fell below 1.5% for the first time in a week after US core consumer prices showed a moderate rise in February, allay inflation fears that had recently worried traders. ECB President Christine Lagarde should further elaborate on the central bank’s concern that rising bond yields could disrupt monetary policy at a press conference following the policy decision.
“While we don’t expect the central bank to announce new measures, ECB President Christine Lagarde will take a moderate tone and emphasize the flexibility embedded in her pandemic QE. [quantitative easing] program to pre-load the purchase of assets as needed, ”said economists from research service TS Lombard.
US Equity Futures ES00,
were stronger, especially the technology-heavy Nasdaq-100 NQ00,
which closed lower on Wednesday.
In Europe, technology stocks including microchip equipment manufacturer ASML ASML,
technology investor Prosus PRX,
and microchipmaker Infineon Technologies IFX,
Advanced.
Banks including HSBC HSBA,
and Barclays BARC,
traded lower as revenues declined.
Also read: Banks in the Eurozone are showing their lives after 15 tough years. Will the ECB end the rally?
Engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce RR,
1% up. The struggling company, which reported an underlying loss of £ 4 billion in 2020, says it expects to have positive free cash flow in the second half of the year.