LONDON/BEIJING—Stock markets made slim gains on Thursday ahead of a European Central Bank meeting that could herald tighter policy, as U.S. Treasury yields eased and the dollar retreated on hopes that inflation may be close to peaking.
Traders were waiting for a European Central Bank meeting for possible clues on a clearer schedule for unwinding its extraordinary stimulus, as worries over record-high inflation trump concerns about a war-related recession.
Ahead of the ECB’s decision, due at 1145 GMT, the broader Euro STOXX 600 gained 0.1 percent, with French shares adding 0.4 percent and German stocks up up 0.2 percent.
A string of central banks across the world have tightened policy as they struggle to rein in spiraling inflation. On Thursday the Bank of Korea surprised markets with a rate hike.
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