Investing.com - European stock markets were higher after the open on Thursday, as doubts over how much the Federal Reserve can raise interest rates this year and a strong recovery in oil prices boosted sentiment.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 tacked on 0.75% by 9:40GMT, France’s CAC 40 inched up 0.2%, while Germany’s DAX 30 advanced 0.55%. In London, the commodity-heavy FTSE 100 rose 0.85%.
The Bank of England will release its rate decision as well as minutes of its Monetary Policy Committee meeting and its quarterly inflation report at 12:00GMT. Last month, the Monetary Policy Committee voted 8-1 to keep rates on hold at a record low 0.5%.
Expectations for a rate hike by the Bank of England have been pushed back to late-2016 due to a recent spate of weaker than expected data and amid uncertainty over a referendum on whether or not Britain should stay in the European Union.
In earnings news, Credit Suisse (VX:CSGN) plunged 12.5% after the Swiss bank reported a massive fourth-quarter loss, while saying it plans to ramp up a cost savings program and will cut about 4,000 jobs, including contractors and consultants.
AstraZeneca (L:AZN) dropped 4.7% after drug maker warned that revenue and earnings would drop this year due to the arrival of cheap generic rivals to its cholesterol fighter Crestor, which will offset growth in sales of newer medicines.
On the upside, Royal Dutch Shell (L:RDSa) rose 4.1% despite announcing a near 60% slump in fourth-quarter profit, as plunging oil prices buffeted the company's earnings.
Elsewhere, major Asian equities closed mostly higher on Thursday, as speculation the Federal Reserve might opt to not raise interest rates at all this year hammered the dollar and sparked a huge rally in oil prices.
Overnight, Wall Street staged a late-day rally to end higher as an 8% jump in oil drove up beaten-down energy shares and financials rebounded.
The greenback tumbled to a three-month low after New York Fed President William Dudley said financial conditions have tightened considerably and the weakening global outlook could have "significant consequences" to the U.S. economy.
The dovish comments tempered expectations on the timing of future U.S. interest rate increases.
Data showing that service sector activity in the U.S. grew at the slowest pace in almost two years in January further cooled expectations for a March rate hike.
Investors looked ahead to key U.S. data later in the day to gauge the strength of the world’s largest economy.
The U.S. is to release the weekly report on initial jobless claims at 8:30AM ET, as well as data on nonfarm productivity followed by factory orders data at 15:00GMT, or 10:00AM ET.
Market players are also focusing on Friday's U.S. nonfarm payrolls report. The consensus forecast is that the data will show jobs growth of 190,000 last month, following an increase of 292,000 in December, while the unemployment rate is forecast to hold steady at 5.0%.