European stocks edged higher on Thursday following gains in Asia overnight after U.S. indices hit record highs at the end of the trading session. These bullish moves took place after Jerome Powell confirmed June’s job data didn’t change the Fed’s outlook as global uncertainty caused by the trade war with China remains. The FOMC minutes published after the Fed’s Chairman testimony showed a rate cut could still be appropriate in the ‘near term’ if the incoming data showed further deterioration. However, the market is already pricing in such a cut and investors now wonder whether it is going to be a 0.25% or a 0.5% one.
Volatility will likely increase with the release of the CPI data from the US later today as these numbers are closely watched by Fed’s members.
In Europe, traders will pay attention to the ECB’s minutes of the June meeting due today. They come at an interesting time for the European Central Bank as investors will be curious to see if Mario Draghi’s dovish turn will be confirmed or not. For now, the Stoxx-50 index is trading slightly above the 3,500.0pts while the DAX-30 index remains steady over 12,350.0pts.
Photo by Mathias Konrath.
