Thursday is looking like another busy day for global markets. Investors and traders will keep a close eye on the European Central Bank meeting later today to get more clues about the strength of the Eurozone economy. Major earnings are also due today from big companies such as Amazon, Alphabet and Microsoft. Meanwhile stocks are moving mostly lower, but this could change as the trading day picks pace. Here are the big the things to know for today’s trading.
1. All Eyes on the ECB
The European Central Bank is widely expected to stand pat on interest rates when it announces its monetary policy decision at 11:45 GMT.
Most of the focus will be on President Mario Draghi's press conference 45 minutes after the announcement, as investors look for more clues on when and how it could start unwinding its monthly quantitative easing program.
Market experts believe the ECB will announce that it will start trimming its monthly asset purchases to €40 billion from the current €60 billion beginning in January. They were mostly split on whether the program would last six or nine more months after that.
The Euro edged higher against the dollar to reach a six-day high of 1.1837, accompanying a rise by the German 10-year bund yield to a three-week top of 0.489%.
2. Big Tech earnings ahead
Thursday's blast of high-profile earnings, including big tech bellwethers, could help set the stage for new stock market highs in the days ahead.
Companies slated to report ahead of the opening bell include Twitter, Ford, Comcast, UPS, American Airlines, Celgene, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Raytheon, Dow Chemical and Under Armour to name a few.
But some of the tech and internet names that have led the market's gains in recent months report after the closing bell and could offer further boost to markets. That includes Amazon.com, up 30% year to date, and Alphabet which has risen 26%.
Microsoft, Intel, Baidu, Western Digital, Align Technology, Starbucks, EA Sports, Gilead Sciences and First Solar also report after the close.
3. Global stocks take a breather
The global stock rally finally showed signs of slowing, bringing at least a momentary pause to this month’s strong performance, as a downbeat mood spread across world equities.
Asian-Pacific markets ended mostly lower, following overnight declines in the U.S., though Japan and China logged gains.
In Europe, shares steadied near 4-week lows as investors digested a raft of mixed earning updates and awaited the ECB's decision on monetary policy.
On Wall Street, U.S. stocks pointing to a mildly lower open as investors looked to key earnings reports to set the tone for the markets. On Wednesday, U.S. stocks fell, with the Dow and S&P 500 indexes suffering their worst day in seven weeks.
Elsewhere, Oil prices extended losses from the prior session, pressured by an unexpected increase in U.S. crude inventories and as oil output and exports from the United States rose last week.
4. Race for Fed Chair tightens
Market watchers continued to ponder over who will become the next Federal Reserve chief and how that will influence the outlook for interest rates.
President Donald Trump is unlikely to pick economic adviser Gary Cohn as his nominee for Fed Chair because Cohn is playing a crucial role in the White House tax reform effort, a senior administration official said Wednesday.
That leaves Stanford University economist John Taylor, current Fed Governor Jerome Powell and current Fed Chair Janet Yellen as the front runners. Trump is expected to announce his Fed chair candidate before leaving on a trip to Asia on Nov. 3.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback's value against a basket of six major currencies, was a bit higher at 93.63, within sight of a two-week high of 93.90 set on Monday.
On the data front, Thursday's calendar includes weekly jobless claims, advanced trade figures and preliminary wholesale inventories all 12:30 GMT.
