European stocks slightly lower with ECB, OPEC meetings on deck

European stocks inched lower Thursday as investors waited to hear about monetary policy from the European Central Bank and oil output policy from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

The Stoxx Europe 600 was down less than 1 point at 344.02. The pan-European index on Wednesday dropped 1%, dragged down by mining shares.

At its meeting Thursday, the ECB isn’t expected to make any change to its monetary policy, which features an asset-purchase program of 80 billion euros a month and a deposit facility rate of negative 0.40%.

“The ECB meeting is likely to be a non-event in terms of new policies, but that doesn’t mean it’ll be a non-event for the markets,” said Marshall Gittler, head of investment research at FXPrimus Europe, in a note.

“A new set of staff projections will be released; these could see a modest improvement in the growth forecast for this year. Higher oil prices also mean that they could raise their forecasts for inflation a bit. That would probably be positive for the euro,” he added.

The ECB will release its monetary policy decision at 12:45 p.m. London time, or 7:45 a.m. Eastern Time. The central bank’s President Mario Draghi will then hold a press conference at 1:30 p.m. London time.

The euro was trading at $1.1215, compared with $1.1188 late Wednesday in New York.

Among banks, which are sensitive to interest rates, shares of UBS Group AG were down 0.2%, Banco Popular Español SA gained 3% and Commerzbank AG rose 0.6%.

Deutsche Bank AG shares were off 0.1%. The German lender’s rating was cut to sector perform from outperform at RBC.

Oil: Meanwhile, oil and gas shares were gaining ground as crude oil prices began to push higher, with Brent up nearly 1%, to move above $50 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate crude also rose about 1%, trading above $49 a barrel.

Among oil producers, Spain’s Repsol SA rose 1.6% and Tullow Oil PLC gained 1.9%. Oil-field services provider Subsea 7 SA picked up 2.4%.

The focus is on Vienna, where OPEC is expected to discuss future production levels. Although reports on Wednesday suggested the oil producers’ group may consider putting a ceiling on output traders remain skeptical about the prospect.

“Iran has already dismissed the idea that a production cap could be agreed this Thursday, while much of the discussions will deal with the election of a new secretary-general rather than any direct dealings with the commodity’s oversupply and subsequent price drop,” said Connor Campbell, financial analyst at Spreadex, in a note.

Indexes: Germany’s DAX 30 shed 0.2% at 10,180.97, and France’s CAC 40 lost 0.2% at 4,465.53.

Italy’s FTSE MIB rose 0.3% to 17,868.34, and Spain’s IBEX 35 rose 0.1% to 8,928.30.

The U.K’s FTSE 100 was up 0.2% at 6,201.91.

Source: MarketWatch