Central bank action will be closely watched by European market participants this week, with the European Central Bank set to hold its final policy meeting of the year on Thursday.<\/p>\n
While the central bank is expected to keep rates at 2%, ECB President Christine Lagarde said it was likely to lift its euro zone growth forecasts again. In September, it had raised its annual GDP growth forecast to 1.2%.<\/p>\n
The Bank of England, Riksbank, and Norges Bank will also hold their last monetary policy decisions for 2025 this week. <\/p>\n
The BOE’s nine-member monetary policy committee is expected to trim interest rates by 25 basis points to 3.75%, given a backdrop of lackluster growth and signs that unemployment could be ticking higher. <\/p>\n
Inflation data published Wednesday showed that U.K. inflation rate cooled to 3.2% in November, down from 3.6% a month earlier. The British pound<\/a> fell in the immediate aftermath of the print, and was last seen trading around 0.7% lower against the U.S. dollar. <\/p>\n Stock Chart IconStock chart icon British pound\/U.S. dollar price<\/p>\n Against the euro<\/a>, the pound lost around 0.5%. <\/p>\n Yields on British government bonds, known as gilts, fell across the curve following the inflation print. The yield on the benchmark 10-year gilt<\/a> was last seen almost 7 basis points lower, while long-term 30-year gilts<\/a> saw their yields move 5 basis points lower. <\/p>\n Bond prices and yields \u2014 which reflect how much interest the government pays on its debt \u2014 move in opposite directions. The U.K. currently has the highest long-term borrowing costs of any G7 nation, with its 20-<\/a> and 30-year gilts trading with yields above the critical 5% threshold. <\/p>\n London’s FTSE 100<\/a> led regional gains on Wednesday with a jump of 1%. The index was lifted higher by financial services and homebuilder stocks, which reacted positively to the November inflation figures and the prospect of a looming interest rate cut. Retirement savings firm Phoenix Group<\/a>, last seen 3.6% higher, topped the FTSE 100, and homebuilder Barratt Redrow<\/a>, up 1.8%, were also among those seeing gains. <\/strong><\/p>\n Elsewhere, drinks giant Diageo<\/a> announced Wednesday it was selling its 65% stake in East African Breweries to Japan’s Asahi Holdings for around $2.3 billion. Shares were last seen 1.7% higher. <\/p>\n Globally overnight, U.S. stock futures<\/a> slid after the S&P 500 posted a\u00a0third losing session<\/a>\u00a0Tuesday, as investors weighed the U.S. jobs landscape after the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released data on Tuesday for both October (after the data was delayed due to the government shutdown) and November.<\/p>\n The data showed the\u00a0U.S. economy shed 105,000 jobs<\/a>\u00a0in October, but that 64,000 jobs were added in November.<\/p>\n![\"hide](\"https:\/\/static-redesign.cnbcfm.com\/dist\/a54b41835a8b60db28c2.svg\")
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