As investors review a series of corporate publications and await the monetary policy decision of the European Central Bank (ECB), European stock exchanges are expected to open in a contrasting manner on Thursday.

The real estate group Icade maintained its profitability objective for 2025, after reporting a slight increase in its revenues in the first quarter.

Forvia confirmed its financial goals for 2025, after registering organic growth that exceeded the evolution of global automotive production in the first quarter.

L'Oréal and GTT will publish their first-quarter sales after market close.

Pernod Ricard confirmed on Thursday its outlook for its fiscal year 2024-2025, after a drop in sales in the third quarter.
On Wednesday evening, the airport operator Groupe ADP announced that its traffic had increased by 3.7% in March compared to the same month

LVMH, Vinci, Interfragrances and Gecina are holding their annual general meeting on Thursday.

The operator of retirement homes and clinics Emeis, ex-Orpea, has confirmed its profitability target for 2025, after announcing its final results for 2024.
At around 7:40am, the CAC 40 futures contract lost 0.3%, according to data from broker IG.

Before the ECB's monetary policy announcements, European equity markets should move hesitantly at the start of the session. Investors expect the Frankfurt institution's key interest rate to be reduced by 25 basis points. According to data from broker IG, the DAX 40 futures contract in Frankfurt gained 0.1%, while the FTSE 100 futures contract in London fell by 0.3%, around 7:40am.
The European stock exchanges will be closed on Friday and Monday for Easter.

The chief investment officer at ABN Amro Investment Solutions, Christophe Boucher, indicated that “the ECB should lower rates during its meeting”. According to him, “the markets will be more interested in what the central bank will communicate about the ongoing tariff war.”

Christophe Boucher believes that the ECB should also provide information on the potential impact of the German recovery plan, which is likely to stimulate European growth.

The New York Stock Exchange closed sharply on Tuesday, weighed down by technology stocks after Nvidia announced heavy financial burdens linked to the trade showdown between the United States and China.

In the red from the start, Wall Street then accelerated its decline in reaction to the new warning from Federal Reserve (Fed) boss Jerome Powell about the impact of customs surcharges on growth and prices.

The Dow Jones (DJIA) ended up down 1.7%, to 39,669.39 points, and the S&P 500 fell 2.2%, to 5,275.70 points. The Nasdaq Composite, rich in technology stocks, fell 3.1% to 16,307.16 points

Nvidia stock fell by 6.9% after the processor designer announced a load of up to $5.5 billion in its first-quarter accounts, due to American restrictions on its chip sales to China and other countries. Its competitor AMD (-7.4%) for its part announced that it would spend a charge of 800 million dollars in connection with the export of its MI308 processors.
The New York Stock Exchange will be closed on Friday and will reopen on Monday.
In Asia, the Nikkei index on the Tokyo Stock Exchange gained 0.9% on Thursday at the end of trading. The Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.1%, while the Hang Seng on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange rose 1.3%.

The U.S. bond market will close earlier on Thursday and remain closed for Good Friday. Around 7:40 a.m., the 10-year US Treasury bond rate rose by 2.6 basis points to 4.31%. The two-year stock rate rose 3 basis points to 3.82%.

The greenback rose by 0.7% against the Japanese currency, to 142.82 yen. Around 7:40 a.m., the euro lost 0.5% to 1.1348 dollars.

The May contract for soft light crude (WTI) listed on Nymex rose by 87 cents, or 1.4%, to $63.34 per barrel. At around 7:40am, the June North Sea Brent contract listed in London gained 73 cents, or 1.1%, to 66.58