European stocks edged lower on Thursday, edging backward after optimism over medical advances to treat COVID-19 as well as momentum toward opening up economies.
Up 12% over the last month, the Stoxx Europe 600 SXXP, -0.21% slipped 0.3%.
It was the first chance for traders in Europe to react to the U.S. Federal Reserve decision, in which the central bank pledged not to lift interest rates until it was confident the economy had weathered the coronavirus shutdowns.
The European Central Bank also isn’t expected to make any major changes when it announces its latest decision at 7:45 a.m. Eastern, followed by the press conference from ECB President Christine Lagarde. Traders will look for clues on whether the ECB’s €750 billion Pandemic Emergency Purchase Plan will be enlarged.
The ECB is meeting against the backdrop of a decimated eurozone economy, which Eurostat estimated fell 3.8% in the first quarter. France’s gross domestic product slumped 5.8%, and Spain’s fell 5.2%, according to data released Thursday.
News about Gilead Sciences’s intravenous drug remdesivir and results from Microsoft and Facebook underpinned sentiment. Separately, the White House has set up a project that will combine military, government agencies and drug companies to get a vaccine by the end of the year, according to Bloomberg News.
Of companies in the spotlight, Royal Dutch Shell RDSA, -5.04% fell over 4% after announcing it was cutting its first-quarter dividend by two-thirds, in what was reported to be the first time the Anglo-Dutch oil giant had reduced its dividend in 80 years.
Banks Société Générale GLE, -5.44% and BBVA BBVA, -3.85% traded lower after reporting first-quarter losses, as they each took loan loss provisions for the coronavirus crisis.
Airbus AIR, +2.14% rose 5% as Chief Executive Guillaume Faury told RTL radio the plane maker is in talks over state aid.
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average YM00, +0.28% edged up 22 points. U.S. jobless claims data are expected to show 3.5 million Americans filed for first-time unemployment claims, taking the total to some 30 million since the lockdowns started.
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