European shares likely to make muted start as investors await direction from data, interest rate decisions

European shares were expected to make a muted start to Thursday’s trade as investors seemingly adopt a wait-and-see approach heading into the holiday season, with markets showing minimal reaction to U.S. President Donald Trump’s impeachment.

Britain’s FTSE 100 was expected to open around 19 points higher at 7,560, Germany’s DAX was seen around 5 points higher at 13,227 and France’s CAC 40 was set to edge up around 3 points to 5,963, according to IG data.

Both the Bank of England and Sweden’s Riksbank will announce interest rate decisions on Thursday, with the latter expected to lift rates out of negative territory.

Asian stocks were mostly lower Thursday afternoon after the Bank of Japan held monetary policy steady.

Stateside, there was little market movement after the U.S. House of Representatives voted to impeach U.S. President Donald Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of congress.

The Queen will outline the new U.K. government’s plans on Thursday after Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party secured a significant majority in last week’s general election.

Traders will have an eye on euro zone manufacturing PMI (purchasing managers’ index) readings due for publication at 9:00 a.m. London time, with individual Spanish, German, French and Italian data set for release after the opening bell.

In corporate news, Airbus is set to end 2019 with an increase in its order backlog, Reuters reported on Wednesday citing a senior executive, beating arch-rival Boeing in both orders and deliveries.

Meanwhile German automakers Daimler and BMW said Wednesday they plan to exit the North American car sharing market due to the “volatile state of the global mobility landscape.”

Irish budget airline Ryanair is due to report earnings before the bell.

Source: CNBC