European Shares May Tumble As Oil Spike Revives Inflation, Growth Concerns

(RTTNews) - European stocks may tumble at open on Thursday as investors await the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of England's (BOE) policy decisions and policymakers' assessment of the ongoing Middle East conflict.

Both the ECB and BOE are expected to hold borrowing costs amid signs of mounting macro headwinds.

The British pound remains vulnerable despite Prime Minister Keir Starmer surviving a key ethics inquiry vote.

Today's European economic calendar remains packed with a slew of GDP, inflation, consumer spending and unemployment readings from Germany, France and the euro zone.

On the earnings front, Google-parent Alphabet impressed Wall Street with its latest quarterly earnings, while Microsoft's cloud revenue growth disappointed investors.

Meta raised its annual capital spending forecast, signaling plans to pour billions more into artificial intelligence infrastructure.

Amazon reported record-breaking quarterly profits and kept its heavy capex plan intact.

Asian markets were broadly lower after the release of mixed Chinese data, with manufacturing activity expanding more than expected in April as services contract.

U.S. Treasury yields held steady after reaching their highest levels in a month following the Fed's decision to keep interest rates on hold.

The dollar hovered near its highest level in more than two weeks while gold recovered some ground and traded 0.3 percent higher at $4,555 an ounce, after having hit a one-month low the day before.

Oil prices extended recent gains amid stalled U.S.-Iran talks and concerns that supply disruptions could persist longer than initially expected.

Brent crude futures for June delivery jumped nearly 6 percent toward $125 a barrel following reports that the U.S. is preparing 'short and powerful' strikes on Iran.

Tehran released new visuals showcasing troop preparations and combat readiness, warning that any escalation could lead to serious consequences.

U.S. stocks ended narrowly mixed overnight as oil prices surged to over four-year highs on concerns of an extended blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, and the Federal Reserve kept its key interest rate unchanged for the third consecutive meeting in a split 8-4 vote amid inflation concerns and Middle East tensions.

Treasury yields climbed and oil prices moved near levels last seen in 2022 after reports suggested that President Trump had rejected Tehran's proposal to end the war and instructed aides to prepare for an extended blockade of Iranian ports until the regime agrees to a nuclear deal.

Meanwhile, concluding his final news conference in the role, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said that the energy price surge has not yet peaked and that a prolonged oil shock could intensify its effect on the global economy and monetary policy outlook.

Powell also said he would not leave the Fed board until legal challenges posed by President Trump are "well and truly over."

Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack, Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari and Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan supported keeping rates unchanged but "did not support inclusion of an easing bias in the statement at this time," signaling a subtle shift toward a more hawkish stance.

While the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite inched up marginally, the S&P 500 ended flat with a negative bias. The narrower Dow dropped 0.6 percent to extend losses for a fifth consecutive session.

European stocks hit a three-week low on Wednesday as investors reacted to mixed corporate earnings results as well as disappointing German inflation and Eurozone sentiment data.

The pan-European STOXX 600 fell 0.6 percent. The German DAX dipped 0.3 percent, France's CAC 40 shed 0.4 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 tumbled 1.2 percent.