By Kevin Buckland
A look at the day ahead in European and global markets from Kevin Buckland
The state of German politics should become clearer on Thursday after Friedrich Merz, leader of the opposition conservatives, gives a morning news conference to respond to Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s request for support to pass the budget and boost military spending.
It comes a day after Scholz sacked Finance Minister Christian Lindner of the Free Democrats (FDP) party after long-running budget disputes, causing the three-party ruling coalition to collapse and setting the stage for a snap election early next year.
Political uncertainty in Europe’s biggest economy couldn’t come at a much worse time for the bloc, which woke up on Wednesday to the real possibility of a Donald Trump-led Republican sweep, which could imminently usher in a threatened 10% blanket tariff on European goods.
Germany, whose main export market is the United States, would be particularly vulnerable, especially as Trump has floated much bigger levies on cars.
Equity markets reacted swiftly, with the pan-European STOXX 600 dropping 0.54% and Germany’s DAX sliding by 1.13%.
Politics will need to share the spotlight with monetary policy on Thursday, with the U.S. Federal Reserve, Bank of England, Sweden’s Riksbank and Norway’s central bank all announcing rates decisions.
The Fed is still widely seen as cutting by a quarter point at this meeting, but investors will be keen to hear what Chair Jerome Powell says about the risks of higher inflation under Trump’s proposed tariffs and immigration policies.
The BoE is also set to cut by a quarter point, but again, markets are looking for clues on the extent to which policy makers expect the government’s new budget to stoke price pressures.
Most analysts expect the Riksbank to cut by a half point, while the Norges Bank is seen on hold.
Plenty of European Central Bank officials are on speaking duty today as well, including outspoken policy hawk Isabel Schnabel, who advocated not rushing with further rate cuts in recent comments.
ECB chief economist Philip Lane talks in Athens, and Dutch central bank governor Klaas Knot will be interviewed by students at the University of Amsterdam. ECB board member Frank Elderson participates in a panel discussion in Brussels.
The health of the German economy will be on display with trade and industrial output data today, while euro zone retail sales figures are due along with UK Halifax house price data.
Key developments that could influence markets on Thursday: