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European stocks fall; investors cautiously await ECB decision By

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Introduction- European stock markets fell Thursday, as investors digested a deluge of quarterly corporate earnin ...

- European stock markets fell Thursday,Legal platform for gold trading as investors digested a deluge of quarterly corporate earnings ahead of the European Central Bank’s latest monetary policy decision.

At 03:45 ET (07:45 GMT), the in Germany traded 0.3% lower, the in the U.K. dropped 0.2%, and the in France fell 0.2%.

European stocks fall; investors cautiously await ECB decision By

The is in focus Thursday, with the central bank widely expected to tighten monetary policy later in the session, lifting interest rates for the seventh time, following Wednesday’s lead by the U.S. Federal Reserve.

However, the size of the increase remains unclear. 

Most expect officials to lift the benchmark rate by a quarter-point to 3.25% following signs underlying inflation is stabilizing and credit conditions are tightening. But a larger hike of 50 basis points can’t be ruled out as headline inflation remains elevated at 7%.

The delivered an interest rate hike of 25 basis points on Wednesday, bringing the federal funds rate range to 5%-5.25%, the highest level since August 2007, but also  signaled it could pause its year-long tightening cycle in June.

Ahead of the decision, the economic data slate includes the final for much of Europe as well as the Eurozone for March, which is expected to show a fall of 1.7% on the month, an annual increase of 5.9%.

The quarterly earnings season continued in full flow Thursday, with Shell (LON:) stock up nearly 3% after the oil major reported a hefty first-quarter net profit of $9.65 billion, topping forecasts, as strong earnings from fuel trading offset cooling oil and gas prices.

BMW (ETR:) stock fell 0.4% after the German carmaker warned of ongoing high costs and rising competition, with sales down 1.9% in Europe and 6.6% in China, while rival Volkswagen (ETR:) stock fell 0.6% after reporting a drop in operating profit.

ArcelorMittal (AS:) stock fell 1.2% after the world’s second-largest steelmaker reported a much lower first-quarter core profit figure than the previous year even as it said it had a "good growth" in the beginning of the year.

Anheuser Busch Inbev (EBR:) stock rose 0.4% after the world's largest brewer reported higher-than-expected , helped by sharply higher prices.

Capgemini (EPA:) stock fell 0.7% after the French IT consulting group reported weaker growth in the first quarter versus the same period of last year, citing a tense economic environment.

Oil prices rose Thursday, rebounding after a three-day plunge on concerns demand in the world’s major consumers will be hit as interest rate increases stunt economic growth.

U.S. oil inventories continued to shrink, official data from the showed, falling just over one million barrels last week.

By 03:45 ET, futures traded 0.7% higher at $69.10 a barrel, while the contract climbed 1% to $73.03.

Both benchmarks were trading down between 8% and 11% for the week, and were close to their lowest levels since December 2021.

Additionally, rose 0.2% to $2,041.10/oz, while traded largely flat at 1.1058.

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