European equity markets are expected to open higher while waiting for the ECB. The Eurostoxx 50 opened at 4,026.68 points with an increase of 1.78%, the CAC 40 at 6,464.48 points (+1.85%), the DAX 30 at 15,422.50 points (+1.36%), the FTSE 100 at 6,998.28 points (+1.70%), the SMI at 12,021.58 points (+0.64%), the AEX at 733.74 points (+1.62%), the BEL 20 at 4,200.05 points (+1.96%), the IBEX 35 at 8,567.00 points (+2.50%), the DJIA at 34.798.00 points (+0.83%), the Nasdaq at 14,631.95 points (+0.92%), the S&P 500 at 4,358.69 points (+0.82%) and the Nikkei 225 to 27.548.00 points, up 0.58%

On the foreign exchange market, the change compared to the close in New York indicates that EUR/USD opened at 1.1800 with an increase of 0.04% while EUR/JPY posted 129.97 (-0.09%) and USD/JPY down 0.14% with 110.15.

European equity markets are expected to continue their rebound on Thursday, but their growth may be limited before the monetary policy decision of the European Central Bank (ECB). At 7:40am, the CAC 40 futures contract was up 27 points, or 0.4%, according to data from the broker IG Markets. The DAX 30 contract gained 45 points, or 0.3%, and the FTSE 100 contract increased by 10 points, or 0.15%. After the new monetary policy strategy unveiled at the beginning of the month, economists believe that the ECB will be accommodative for a long time. It should therefore not change its rates or the volume of its asset purchase programs this month, but it should adapt its forward guidance to its new 2% symmetric inflation target. Any information on the evolution of asset purchases made under the Pandemic Emergency Procurement Program (PEPP), which is scheduled to end in March 2022, will also

In the United States, Senate Republicans blocked an attempt to start a debate on the infrastructure plan that is still under negotiation, but parliamentarians hope to reach a final agreement by the beginning of next week. Wall Street finished higher on Wednesday, continuing its rebound from the day before after strong quarterly results that overshadowed concerns about the spread of the Delta variant of the coronavirus. The Dow Jones Index (DJIA) gained 1.6% to 34,797.74 points at the close, and the broader S&P 500 Index rose 0.8% to 4,358.65 points. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.9% to 14,631.95 points. In Asia, the main markets recovered on Thursday. At the end of the session, the Shanghai Composite rose by 0.3% and the Hang Seng gained 1.7% in Hong Kong. The Tokyo Stock Exchange is closed due to a public holiday in the country

U.S. Treasury bond yields finished higher on Wednesday. The yield on the ten-year Treasury note, the market benchmark, stood at 1.292% at the close, compared to 1.224% on Tuesday evening, regaining most of the ground lost at the beginning of the week. Markets are juggling the resurgence of Covid-19 cases with encouraging economic indicators, while the rebound in stocks could reflect a decrease in concerns related to the

The euro changed little against the dollar on Thursday morning. However, the single currency could fall back against the greenback if the ECB announces that it plans to maintain an accommodative monetary policy longer than expected, ING believes. The ECB's decision to raise its inflation target to 2%, against a previous target of inflation close to but below 2%, means that the institution will continue what it has undertaken in recent years or move towards a more accommodative policy, ING analysts point out

Oil contracts fell on Thursday morning, after closing 4% on Wednesday, supported by weekly U.S. oil inventory figures, which showed a drop in reserves in Cushing, Oklahoma, to their lowest level since January 2020. At 7:30am, the September North Sea Brent contract lost 38 cents to $71.85 per barrel, and the September WTI contract of the same maturity fell by 32 cents to $69.98