European stock markets are expected to open higher on Thursday, after the Fed paused on its rates last night and pending the European Central Bank's monetary policy decision on Thursday.

The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE) announced in an initial estimate that France's gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 0.1% in the fourth quarter compared to the previous quarter. On average over the year 2024, GDP grew by 1.1%. For INSEE, indicated that household consumption of goods in France increased by 0.7% in December compared to the previous month

This Thursday, seven deputies and seven senators will meet in a joint joint committee from 9:30am and will try to agree on a text for the French budget.

On the monetary policy side, the European Central Bank (ECB) is due to announce its decision on its key rates at 14:15 p.m.

Sanofi refined its forecasts for 2025 this morning, after announcing net earnings per share (BNPA) for businesses, its preferred profitability measure, in line with analysts' expectations in the fourth quarter of 2024.

In addition, the pharmaceutical group announced a plan to buy back shares worth 5 billion euros this year following the sale of its consumer business Opella, scheduled for no earlier than the second quarter of 2025.
Thanks in particular to a rebound in its production in the fourth quarter, the hydrocarbon exploration and production group Maurel & Prom announced on Thursday a clear increase in its turnover in 2024

The Eurofins analysis laboratory announced on Thursday that it expects organic growth of around 5% for the current fiscal year after the 4.7% increase recorded in 2024. The group also intends to improve its profitability in 2025.
Around 8 am, the CAC 40 futures contract is up by 0.2%, according to data from broker IG.

Prior to the ECB decision, equity futures were up overall this morning. The European Central Bank should set itself apart from the Federal Reserve by choosing to continue to lower interest rates instead of taking a break. Unlike the Fed, the question is not whether the ECB will continue to cut rates, but by how much more

Bank of America strategists believe “the next two declines now seem to have consensus, but not the trajectory after that.” After the Fed halted its recent series of interest rate cuts and signalled that it would be more wait-and-see for further action, U.S. stocks fell slightly on Wednesday. Traders remain concerned that inflation will persist above the Fed's 2% target and that Treasury bond yields will continue to rise without interest rates falling

After the status quo on Federal Reserve (Fed) rates and the cautious words of its chairman Jerome Powell on a possible resumption of monetary easing due to inflation, the New York Stock Exchange ended in the red on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Index (DJIA) fell 0.3% to 44,713.52 points, and the expanded S&P 500 index fell 0.5% to 6,039.31 points. The Nasdaq Composite, rich in technological stocks, lost 0.5% to 19,632.32 points.

On the corporate side, many companies will publish their results on Thursday in Europe and the United States, including Deutsche Bank, H&M, Shell, Nordea Bank, Shell, Nordea Bank, BBVA, Nordea Bank, BBVA, BBVA, Nokia, BBVA, Nokia, Roche, Apple, Visa and Intel. At around 8 am, the DAX 40 futures contract was up 0.1%, while the FTSE 100 was stable, according to data from broker IG.
In Asia, the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange were closed on Thursday due to the Chinese New Year. For its part, the Nikkei 225 closed up 0.25% on the Tokyo Stock Exchange

The 10-year US Treasury bond yield lost 2 basis points (0.02 percentage points), to 4.53%, at 4.53%, around 8 am. That of the two-year stock was stable at 4.22%

The euro lost 0.1%, to 1.0414 dollars, around 8 am. The greenback lost 0.5% against the Japanese currency, at 154.41

The March contract for North Sea Brent traded in London lost 2 cents, to 75.59 dollars per barrel, around 8 am. The contract of the same maturity on light sweet crude (WTI) listed on Nymex rose 7 cents, or 0.1%, to 72.69