European stocks inched higher on Thursday, tracking Asian peers on hopes of more stimulus in China, while investors awaited US inflation data for hints on the Federal Reserve’s easing path.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.1% as of 0713 GMT, with gains in healthcare and telecom sectors outweighing losses in technology stocks.
European markets also took some comfort from Wall Street indexes touching record highs on Wednesday after the Fed’s September meeting minutes showed a “substantial majority” of officials supported an outsized half-point rate cut.
Investors will closely watch US consumer prices later in the day for cues on the size of potential rate cuts later this year.
Traders are pricing in an 85% chance of a smaller 25 basis points rate cut next month. Among single stocks, GSK jumped about 6% after the British drugmaker agreed to pay up to $2.2 billion to settle US lawsuits that claimed its discontinued heartburn drug Zantac caused cancer.
STOXX 600 closes higher with focus on interest rate cuts
The figure was smaller than what some analysts had feared. BMW slipped 0.7% after it reported a fall in third-quarter sales, hurt by weak performance in China and delivery stops. Forecast beating third-quarter sales underpinned Swiss fragrance maker Givaudan’s shares, which rose 1.8%.
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