European equity markets were poised to open higher on Thursday after softer US inflation data tempered expectations of a Federal Reserve interest rate hike in September. In Europe, new figures showed the UK economy grew 0.4% quarter-on-quarter in the three months to June, easing from 0.5% in the first quarter but in line with market forecasts. Investors will also be watching the release of Eurozone industrial production data for June and Spain’s final inflation numbers for July.
On the corporate front, Danish shipping group Maersk raised its full-year underlying EBITDA guidance to a level ahead of analyst estimates. Other major European companies due to report earnings include E.On, RWE, Antofagasta, Birkenstock and Nomad Foods. In premarket trading, futures on both the Euro Stoxx 50 and the Stoxx 600 were up about 0.4%.
