UK and European stocks are higher this morning ahead of the European Central Bank’s latest policy decisions. The ECB is not expected to announce any significant changes to interest rates or QE but investors will be closely monitoring President Christine Lagarde’s comments at the post-meeting press conference.
She is expected to say that the ECB will continue with the current accelerated bond buying program through to the middle of the year to support the eurozone economies through the pandemic.
US initial jobless claims data released later today will also be watched closely and more first-quarter earnings are due from major companies including Credit Suisse and Nestle in Europe and Intel and American Airlines in the US.
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