Stocks are expected to fall after the announcement of a slowdown in Chinese growth. The Eurostoxx 50 opens at 4,099.50 points up 0.12%, the CAC 40 and DAX 30 remain stable at 6,558.38 points and 15,788.98 points respectively. The FTSE 100 opens at 7,091.19 points down 0.47%, the SMI at 12,043.35 points (-0.23%), the AEX at 744.95 points (+0.28%), the BEL 20 at 4,189.77 points (-0.52%), the IBEX 35 at 8.658.30 points (-0.42%), the DJIA at 34,933.23 points (+0.13%), the Nasdaq at 14,644.95 points (-0.22%), the S&P 500 at 4,374.30 points (+0.12%) and the Nikkei 225 at 28,277.58 points (-1.16%).

The exchange rate is on a downward trend. EUR/USD is at 1.1835 (-0.03%), EUR/JPY at 130.00 (-0.13%) and USD/JPY at 109.87 (-0.09%).

Investors will follow two auctions of French Treasury bonds (OATs) and inflation-indexed OATs in the euro zone (OATei) on Thursday.

The main European equity markets are expected to decline on Thursday, after the announcement of a slowdown in economic growth in China in the second quarter and before a second day of trading.Investors will also follow the results of the U.S. Federal Reserve's (Fed's) first-ever earnings call on Thursday, as well as the results of the U.S. economy. Investors will also be watching the results of Morgan Stanley, the last of the big U.S. banks to release its quarterly accounts, and a series of economic indicators in the United States, including weekly jobless claims and industrial production in June. At 7:35 a.m., the CAC 40 futures contract was down 16 points, or 0.3%, according to data from broker IG Markets. The DAX 30 contract was down 29 points, or 0.2 percent, and the FTSE 100 was down 18 points, or 0.3 percent. Under questioning Wednesday by the House Financial Services Committee, Jerome Powell said inflation in the U.S. had strengthened and would likely remain high over the next few months before easing, while ruling out a rapid tightening of monetary policy. Supply difficulties related to the pandemic and the reopening of the economy have led to rapid increases in prices for some goods and services, "which should partially reverse as the effects of the bottlenecks subside," Jerome Powell told the House Financial Services Committee.

Ahead of another hearing of the Fed chairman by members of the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday, Wall Street ended mixed on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) rose 0.1 percent to 34,933.23 points, and the broader S&P 500 index gained 0.1 percent to 4,374.30 points. After spending most of the session in the green, the Nasdaq Composite finally ended down 0.2% at 14,644.95 points. In China, gross domestic product (GDP) growth slowed in the second quarter to a level that is still high in the current pandemic environment. China's GDP grew by 7.9% in the second quarter compared to the corresponding period in 2020, as expected by economists. After these announcements, the main Asian indices presented a mixed picture on Thursday. At the end of the session, the Hang Seng was up 1.2% in Hong Kong and the Shanghai Composite Index was up 0.4%. In contrast, the Tokyo Stock Exchange's Nikkei index was down 1.2%.

U.S. Treasury yields continued to fall on Thursday as investors analyzed the Fed chairman's remarks at the first of his two-day congressional hearing. At 7:35 a.m., the yield on the 10-year note, the market's benchmark, stood at 1.334%.Jerome Powell seemed to downplay any direct link between the Fed's purchases of mortgage-backed securities (MBS) and the surge in real estate prices. He said that Treasury bond purchases and MBS purchases are equivalent in terms of easing financial conditions. These comments suggest that, as part of a process of phasing out Fed bond purchases, Treasuries and MBS will be treated the same, even though some Fed officials have said that they are not.on, even though some Fed officials have called for reduced purchases of mortgage-backed securities to curb the surge in the housing market.

The euro was steady Thursday against the dollar as investors continued to react to Jerome Powell's remarks to Congress. The central banker said the dollar had no good competitor as a reserve currency and was in no danger of losing its crown. Thus, the dollar weakened after a better-than-expected June jobs report in the United States and strengthened when the ISM services index for the same month disappointed, HSBC analysts said.

Oil contracts continued their decline Thursday after losing more than 2% on Wednesday, hurt by data showing a drop in U.S. gasoline demand as well as news reports of a compromise between the United Arab Emirates and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries on production. At 7:25 a.m., the North Sea Brent crude September contract was down 49 cents at $74.27 a barrel, and Nymex-listed light sweet crude (WTI) for August was down 55 cents at $72.58 a barrel.