At the opening on Thursday, European stock markets are expected to fall, before the publication of a series of key economic indicators on both sides of the Atlantic. Investors could also opt for caution on the eve of the meeting between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska.

The pharmaceutical group Sanofi for its part announced on Thursday that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) had granted orphan drug designation to rilzabrutinib for the disease linked to IgG4, a rare autoimmune condition.

Around 7:40 a.m., the CAC 40 futures contract fell by 0.3%, according to data from broker IG.

While markets could catch their breath after two sessions of gains, European index futures fell overall on Thursday morning.
At around 7:40am, the DAX 40 futures contract in Frankfurt was down 0.3%, while the FTSE 100 in London was up 0.1%, according to data from broker IG.
After a videoconference with European leaders on Ukraine, the American president assured Wednesday that territorial issues would not be part of his negotiations with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, during their meeting scheduled for Friday in Alaska.
The American desire is to obtain a ceasefire during this meeting, for his part declared the French President, Emmanuel Macron.
Donald Trump also indicated that he wanted to quickly organize a meeting between Vladimir Putin, the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, and himself after the meeting on Friday. He also threatened the Russian president with “very serious consequences” if he refused a ceasefire.
The New York Stock Exchange closed in the green on Wednesday, buoyed by the hope of an early cut in Federal Reserve (Fed) rates. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indexes narrowly surpassed the previous day's all-time high.
The Dow Jones index came close to its highs in July by climbing 1% to 44,922.27 points. The S&P 500 rose 0.3% to 6,466.58 points, and the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite rose 0.1% to 21,713.14 points.
While the July Consumer Price Index (CPI), released on Tuesday, made the market more confident that the Fed will cut interest rates in September, investors will look at the US producer price index for the same period on Thursday.
Economists expect producer prices to rise by 0.2% over one month in July, while they remained stable in June. They expect the basic producer price index to rise by 0.3%, which was also stable in June.
In Asia, the Nikkei index on the Tokyo Stock Exchange lost 1.2% on Thursday at the end of trading. The Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.2%, while the Hang Seng on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange fell by 0.4%.

Citi Research reported that fundamentals and positioning data suggest that crude oil prices could fall by around $3 to $4 should there be progress toward an agreement between the United States and Russia.

The September contract for soft light crude (WTI) listed on Nymex rose 21 cents, or 0.3%, to 62.86 dollars per barrel. At around 7:40am, the October North Sea Brent contract listed in London gained 22 cents, or 0.3%, to $65.85