European equities traded higher on Thursday ahead of a European Central Bank decision as investors celebrated a weakening in bond yields.
In six of the last eight sessions, the Stoxx Europe 600 SXXP,
increased by 0.2%.
The yield on the US Treasury TMUBMUSD10Y for ten years,
fell below 1.5% for the first time in a week after U.S. core consumer prices rose sharply in February, fueling fears of inflation recently by traders. ECB President Christine Lagarde must further state the central bank’s concern that rising bond yields could affect monetary policy, during a news conference following the policy decision.
‘While we do not expect the central bank to announce new measures, ECB President Christine Lagarde will give a dull tone and emphasize the flexibility in his pandemic QE. [quantitative easing] program to put forward asset purchases, ”said economists from the research service TS Lombard.
US futures contracts ES00,
was stronger, especially the Nasdaq-100 NQ00,
which closed lower on Wednesday.
In Europe, technological stocks including the microchip maker ASML ASML,
technological investor Prosus PRX,
and microchip maker Infineon Technologies IFX,
advanced.
Banks including HSBC HSBA,
and Barclays BARC,
traded lower as yields fell.
Also read: Eurozone banks show their lives after 15 rough years. Will the ECB sneak out the rally?
Engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce RR,
increased by 1%. The struggling company, which reported an underlying loss of £ 4bn in 2020, says it will have a free cash flow in the second half of the year.