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London - European stock markets rose at the start of trading on Thursday following a record-high finish on Wall Street and before interest rate decisions from the European Central Bank (ECB) and Bank of England.
London's benchmark FTSE 100 index won 0.24% to 6 732.97 points.
Frankfurt's DAX 30 gained 0.27% to 9 998.85 points and the CAC 40 in Paris won 0.18% to open at 4 399.94 compared with Wednesday's close.
Asian stock markets closed higher on Thursday following record close overnight on Wall Street, as investors cheered an upbeat report on the economy from the US central bank.
The ECB and Bank of England (BoE) will announce their latest monetary policy decisions on Thursday. The BoE is widely expected to keep it key interest rate at 0.50%, where it has stood for almost six years, while the ECB will likely prime markets for new anti-deflation measures, according to traders.
Given the alarming drop in eurozone inflation in recent months, the heat has increased on the ECB to undertake massive stimulus measures like central banks in Britain, Japan and the United States have done.
Falling prices may sound good for the consumer, but they can trigger a vicious spiral where businesses and households delay purchases, throttling demand and causing companies to lay off workers.
"We have rate verdicts from both the Bank of England and the ECB - no surprises expected at the former but (ECB head) Mario Draghi still has a mountain to climb in terms of dragging the currency bloc out of its current economic malaise," said Tony Cross, market analyst at trading group Trustnet Direct.
