European stock markets showed marginal gains on Wednesday as investors absorbed disappointing U.K. growth data ahead of the Federal Reserve’s final policy-setting meeting of the year.
At 03:20 ET (08:20 GMT), Germany’s DAX index traded 0.1% higher, France’s CAC 40 was up 0.1%, and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 rose 0.1%.
As the Federal Reserve concludes its two-day policy meeting later on Wednesday, expectations are for unchanged interest rates. The market will focus on Chair Jerome Powell’s comments on current conditions and the central bank’s dot plot of future policy. Analysts now anticipate a strong chance of a rate cut in the summer, with Goldman Sachs revising their forecast for the first cut to the third quarter of next year.
Economic data suggest the possibility of a eurozone recession in the final quarter of the year, with the U.K. economy contracting by 0.3% in October. Eurozone industrial production data for October is expected to show a monthly drop of 0.3%, falling 4.6% annually.
In corporate news, Inditex stock rose 0.5% as the world’s largest fashion retailer reported a one-third increase in net profit from February to October.
Oil prices continued to decline on oversupply and demand growth concerns ahead of the Fed meeting. U.S. crude futures traded 0.6% lower at $68.20 a barrel, while the Brent contract dropped 0.7% to $72.74 a barrel.
Gold futures rose 0.1% to $1,995.05/oz, and EUR/USD traded marginally lower at 1.0791. The U.S. inflation readings for November, released on Tuesday, impacted expectations for early interest rate cuts by the Fed.
The Energy Information Administration’s official inventory data for U.S. oil is due later in the day.