European Stocks Tread Cautiously Ahead of ECB Rate Decision

On Thursday, European stocks made slight gains, as investors remained cautious ahead of the European Central Bank's rate decision. The ECB is expected to raise interest rates for the tenth consecutive time, potentially pushing Europe's key interest rate to a record high. The likelihood of a 25-basis-point hike has risen to 65%, up from around 40% earlier in the week. This change in expectations followed a Reuters report on Tuesday indicating that the ECB might increase its inflation forecast for next year to over 3%. Additionally, investors are eagerly anticipating industrial production data for the UK and the eurozone later today.

The energy index (.SXEP) increased by 1%, mirroring a recovery in crude oil prices, while miners (.SXPP) gained 1.7% on stronger metal markets.

Neste (NESTE) saw a 3.1% increase in its stock price after Goldman Sachs upgraded the Finnish oil refiner and biofuels producer's rating to "buy."

China's commerce ministry warned that the European Commission's investigation into Chinese electric vehicles suspected of benefiting from state subsidies could have a "negative" impact on economic and trade relations.

On the downside, the STOXX Europe 600 auto index (.SXAP) fell by 1.1%, with Germany's Mercedes (MBG), BMW (BMW), Volkswagen (VOW), and France's Renault (RNO) declining between 1.1% and 1.9%.

DAX continues inside the range of 15500 and 16000. The wider price range encompasses support at 15,500 and resistance at 16,400. In the short term, DAX went back toward the 15600 level after finding resistance at the 16000.

Resi Level 3	Resi Level 2	Resi Level 1	Suppo level 1	Suppo level 2	Suppo level 3
16600	16400	16000	15550	15400	15200