European stock futures subdued; consolidating after recent gains

investing.com:

Investing.com — European stock markets are expected to open in a subdued manner Thursday, consolidating after recent gains on optimism that the policy tightening cycles of a series of major central banks are over.

At 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT), the DAX futures contract in Germany traded 0.1% higher, while the CAC 40 futures in France dropped 0.1% and the FTSE 100 futures contract in the U.K. fell 0.1%. 

The main European equity indices have pushed higher this week, boosted by economic data showing cooling U.S. inflation, with Wednesday’s release indicating producer prices falling at their fastest pace since April 2020. This has supported views that U.S. interest rates have peaked.

Similarly, in Europe, U.K. consumer inflation undershot all forecasts, while eurozone inflation fell to 2.9% in October, its lowest for more than two years. This bolstered expectations that the European Central Bank will not raise rates any further. 

Economic data releases are thin on the ground in Europe Thursday, but a series of central bankers, including ECB President Christine Lagarde, are set to speak at various events. Investors will be looking for further clues that more interest rate hikes are becoming increasingly unlikely.

Also helping the tone this week was Chinese industrial and retail numbers beating expectations in October, raising hopes for a recovery in the second largest economy in the world.

However, data released Thursday showed that China's new home prices fell for the fourth straight month, suggesting the crisis-hit property sector will continue to forestall a full-blown revival.

In the corporate sector, Siemens (ETR:SIEGn) provided a more cautious sales outlook for 2024 after the industrial conglomerate reported fourth-quarter