27 Apr 2016
European stocks cautious ahead of FOMC and BoJ announcements
The European equity markets continue to remain under pressure, with most major equity indices dipping back into negative territory from minor opening gains on Wednesday.
The German DAX, UK's FTSE 100 open up with gains of 0.2% to 0.4% but have now dropped to trade with minor losses. The broader index, Stoxx 600, which tracks 600 publicly-traded companies in 18 EU countries, is also trading with a negative bias and is down around 0.2%.
Central banks uncertainty to cap gains
Today's move in FTSE 100 is likely to be influence by today’s scheduled release of the first quarter UK GDP print. However, stock markets across the globe traded remained subdued on Wednesday as investors are reluctant to place big bets ahead of the monetary policy updates from the US Federal Reserve on Wednesday and from the Bank of Japan on Thursday. The US central bank is not expected to hike rates but might hint of acting in June. On the other hand, BoJ is widely expected to boost its monetary stimulus measures.
Earlier on Wednesday, Asian markets also traded with slight negative bias, while Australia’s ASX 200 gained 0.6% on weaker-than-expected inflation data that fueled expectations that the Reserve Bank of Australia might soon consider cutting interest rates.
The German DAX, UK's FTSE 100 open up with gains of 0.2% to 0.4% but have now dropped to trade with minor losses. The broader index, Stoxx 600, which tracks 600 publicly-traded companies in 18 EU countries, is also trading with a negative bias and is down around 0.2%.
Central banks uncertainty to cap gains
Today's move in FTSE 100 is likely to be influence by today’s scheduled release of the first quarter UK GDP print. However, stock markets across the globe traded remained subdued on Wednesday as investors are reluctant to place big bets ahead of the monetary policy updates from the US Federal Reserve on Wednesday and from the Bank of Japan on Thursday. The US central bank is not expected to hike rates but might hint of acting in June. On the other hand, BoJ is widely expected to boost its monetary stimulus measures.
Earlier on Wednesday, Asian markets also traded with slight negative bias, while Australia’s ASX 200 gained 0.6% on weaker-than-expected inflation data that fueled expectations that the Reserve Bank of Australia might soon consider cutting interest rates.