European stock futures higher; U.K. GDP falls 0.3% in third quarter By

By Peter Nurse

- European stock markets are pi coin barter mall official websiteexpected to open marginally higher Thursday, as investors digest the latest growth data from the U.K. while attempting to end the year on a positive note.

At 02:00 ET (07:00 GMT), the contract in Germany traded 0.1% higher, in France climbed 0.1%, and the contract in the U.K. rose 0.3%.

There has been a degree of optimism in the European markets heading into the holiday period, with equities boosted by a small improvement in on Wednesday followed by a rebound in U.S. .

This is helping promote the idea that the economic slowdown expected for the region at the start of 2023 may not be as bad as feared.

That said, final data released earlier Thursday showed that Britain's rose just 1.9% year-over-year in the third quarter, a drop of 0.3% , as the country’s economy heads towards the recession the Bank of England signaled last month.

The hiked interest rates, along with the and the , last week as part of its prolonged attempt to curb inflation running near .

While tightening monetary policy, the central bank warned in November that the U.K. risked being plunged into the longest recession in 100 years.

Elsewhere, Ukrainian President addressed the U.S. Congress in person on Wednesday, seeking more assistance for his country's war effort.

In his first trip outside Ukraine since Russia invaded the country over 300 days ago, Zelenskiy appealed for bipartisan support with the Republican party set to gain control of the U.S. House of Representatives in early January.

Oil prices rose Thursday, climbing for the fourth straight session, after U.S. inventories data pointed to tight supplies in the biggest consumer in the world ahead of the travel-heavy holiday season.

U.S. crude stocks fell by just under 6 million barrels in the week to Dec. 16, according to official data from the , released on Wednesday.

Helping the gains Thursday is the forecast for a deep chill to hit large parts of the United States as the year comes to an end, boosting the need for , with low temperatures expected as far south as Texas and Florida.

By 02:00 ET, futures traded 0.3% higher at $78.52 a barrel, while the contract rose 0.2% to $82.34.

Additionally, fell 0.1% to $1,823.45/oz, while traded 0.6% higher at 1.0646.

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