European equity markets expected to rise after the Fed's minutes and before those of the ECB. The Eurostoxx 50 opens at 4,276.25 points (-0.18%), the CAC 40 at 7,042.23 points (-0.03%), the DAX 40 at 15,878.39 points (-0.37% ), the FTSE 100 at 7,286.32 points (+0.27%), the SMI at 12,395.72 points (+0.23%), the AEX at 802.96 points (+0.09%), the BEL 20 at 4,205.06 points (+1.28%), IBEX 35 at 8,792.00 points (-0.26%), DJIA at 35,804.38 points (-0.03%), Nasdaq at 15,845.23 points (+0.44%), the S&P 500 at 4,701.46 points (+0.23%) and the Nikkei 225 at 29,499.28 points (+0.67%).

On the exchange rate side, the variation compared to the closing in New York indicates that the EUR/USD is displayed at 1.1212 (+0.10%), the EUR/JPY at 129.36 (+ 0.06%) and USD/JPY at 115.39 (-0.04%).

European equity markets are expected higher at the open on Thursday after the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve's (Fed) monetary policy committee's latest meeting, which signaled its members appeared divided on the conduct of hold up against inflation. Trading volumes could be restricted, however, favoring volatility, as US stock markets will remain closed on Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday. At 7:30 a.m., the CAC 40 futures contract gained 32 points, or 0.5%, according to data from broker IG Markets. The contract on the DAX 40 gained 56 points, or 0.4%, and that on the FTSE 100 gained 21 points, or 0.3%.

The Fed reduced its purchases of securities by $15 billion in November and indicated that a reduction of the same magnitude would occur in December. The next monetary policy meeting is scheduled for December 14 and 15. In this context and after the publication of many economic indicators, Wall Street ended in dispersed order on Wednesday. The Dow Jones index (DJIA) fell 0.03% to 35,804.38 points. The S&P 500 index rose 0.2% to 4,701.46 points. The Nasdaq Composite index, rich in technology stocks, which had lost up to 1% at the start of the session, gained 0.4%, to 15,845.23 points. In Asia, the main markets also present a mixed picture on Thursday. In Tokyo, the Nikkei index rose 0.7%, supported by the weakness of the yen and the gains on Wall Street. The Hang Seng index of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange gained 0.1% at the end of the session. The Shanghai Composite index lost 0.1%.

Deutsche Bank expects the Federal Reserve to double the pace of 'tapering', the process of monthly tapering of its asset purchases, so it can raise interest rates from June as central bankers protest more worry about inflation. The German bank was previously expecting a relatively early rate in July. The yield on the ten-year US Treasury bond fell to 1.641% on Wednesday.

The euro edged higher against the dollar on Thursday, but the single currency remains close to its lowest levels since June 2020. Dramatic economic indicators continue to support the dollar, points out Karl Schamotta, head of market strategy at Cambridge Global Payments. The greenback was also supported this week by the reappointment of Jerome Powell for a second term as Fed chair and the appointment of Lael Brainard as vice chair, the strategist adds. At 7:30 a.m., the euro gained 0.1% to 1.1213 dollars.

Oil futures faltered on Thursday morning amid growing speculation that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies would not increase production by 400,000 barrels per day in December as they had planned to compensate for the effect of a drain on the strategic reserves of black gold in the main consumer countries such as the United States, indicates TD Securities. As of 7:20 a.m., the January North Sea Brent contract was up 17 cents, at $82.42 a barrel. The same-maturity contract on light sweet crude (WTI) listed on Nymex advanced 4 cents to 78.43 dollars a barrel.