What you need to know before the open – 09/01
It's all eyes on the European Central Bank for bourses today, as it announces its decision on interest rates.
There's been plenty of speculation over whether we'll see another rate cut, given rising concerns over deflation in the euro area, but consensus is that today's meeting is likely to be too soon for a decision.
The Bank of England is also due to meet today, although no changes are expected.
US markets finished a little lower last night following minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee meeting, which confirmed that the decision to taper last month was a widely-held view among members.
In Asia, overnight data showed China's inflation slowed again to 2.5 per cent in December, although investors remained unperturbed as the news eased fears of monetary policy tightening.
The Nikkei lost 1.5 per cent in trading today, following Wednesday's bounce.
ETX Capital #MorningCall FTSE +8, DAX +17, CAC +13, IBEX +33, SP +1, DOW +7
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Key events:
- France trade balance at 7.45am. Expected at -4.6bn from -$4.7bn.
- UK trade balance, goods trade balance at 9.30am.
- Eurozone consumer confidence for December at 10.00am. Expected at -13.6 from 15.4.
- Eurozone economic sentiment indicator for December at 10.00am. Expected at 99.1 from 98.5.
- German industrial production, seasonally adjusted, for November at 11.00am.
- UK Bank of England interest rate decision and monetary policy statement at 12.00pm. Expected unchanged at 0.5 per cent.
- EU European Central Bank interest rate decision at 12.45pm. Expected unchanged at 0.25 per cent.
- EU ECB monetary policy statement and press conference at 1.30pm.
- US initial jobless claims (3 January) at 1.30pm. Expected at 335,000 from 339,000.