A Look Ahead at European and Global Markets
Investors received a welcome distraction from the US presidential news cycle on Thursday, as China announced measures to boost its ailing stock market. The Chinese government plans to channel hundreds of billions of yuan from state-owned insurers’ funds into the stock market, with at least 100 billion yuan ($13.75 billion) committed in the first half of this year.
China’s main stock market benchmarks, the Shanghai Composite and the Shenzhen Composite, jumped over 1% after the news, although they have since relinquished some of those gains. The news offered little support to MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan, which retreated on Thursday after seven straight sessions of gains.
Meanwhile, European shares are expected to open negatively on Thursday, alongside their US counterparts, as enthusiasm over US President Donald Trump’s plans for artificial intelligence infrastructure spending may be waning. The data calendar is light in Europe, with a rate decision due from Norges Bank, which is widely expected to keep rates on hold.
The Bank of Japan is set to make a rate decision, with markets having fully priced in a 25-basis-point rate hike. However, it would likely take both the expected rate hike and an explicit promise of more hikes ahead to stop a renewed fall in the yen, which continued to drift away from a one-month high on Thursday.
Key developments that could influence markets on Thursday include the Norges Bank rate decision, US weekly jobless claims, and earnings reports from American Airlines and General Electric.