Flags of European Union member states are raised at the cornerstone laying ceremony of the new European Central Bank (ECB) headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany.
Hanelore Förster | Bloomberg | Getty Images
LONDON — European stock markets opened in positive territory at the start of a busy week for the European Central Bank.
pan-european Stocks 600 The stock was up 0.38% as of 8:05 a.m. ET (3:05 a.m. ET), with most sectors and major exchanges in the green.
british FTSE Germany’s index rose 0.43% shortly after the opening bell. dachshund Up 0.44%, France CAC40 Italy up 0.30% FTSE MIB It rose by 0.63%.
It’s been a busy week for European investors, with the European Central Bank’s last policy meeting of the year scheduled for Thursday, where the bank is expected to keep interest rates on hold at 2%.
In an interview with the Financial Times, ECB President Christine Lagarde said in an interview with the Financial Times that the ECB was likely to raise its forecast for annual GDP growth again in December, after raising its forecast for annual GDP growth to 1.2% in September.
Other central banks, including the Bank of England, Riksbank and Norges Bank, will also make their final monetary policy decisions for 2025 this week. It may be a close call, but the BOE is expected to lower interest rates. Eurozone and UK inflation figures will also be released on Wednesday.
The mettle of European leaders will also be tested this week as they tackle funding issues for Ukraine, including the possibility of using billions of frozen Russian assets to back a 210 billion euro ($246 billion) loan to Kiev at a summit in Brussels on Thursday.
In the United States, stock futures were little changed Sunday night after a mixed week on Wall Street amid a massive rotation away from tech companies and into parts of the market trading at lower valuations.
Traders also braced for a slew of U.S. economic data coming out this week, including November nonfarm payrolls and October retail sales, both due Tuesday. The report was delayed due to the U.S. government shutdown in the fall. The consumer price index for November will be released on Thursday.
Asia-Pacific markets fell on Monday after last week’s decline on Wall Street soured sentiment.
— CNBC’s Leonie Kidd and Fred Imbert contributed to this market report.
