European stocks may open on a firm note Thursday as investors look past high core U.S. inflation number and shift their focus to producer price inflation and weekly jobless claims data due later in the day for hints regarding the size of future rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.
After August's inflation report matched expectations, markets are now more confident the Fed will cut its rate by 25 basis points next week and reserve the potential for more aggressive action later this year in case there is further deterioration in the job market.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Business News
May 01, 2026 15:54 ET Central banks dominated the economics news flow this week with almost all major ones announcing their latest policy decisions and many boosted expectations for a rate hike in June. In other news, several countries released the preliminary data for first quarter economic growth. In the U.S., comments by Fed Chair Jerome Powell were also in focus as his term ends this month.