European Stocks Cautiously Higher Ahead of ECB Meeting Thursday

Stocks in Europe edged higher and U.S. futures rose Wednesday as investors struck a cautiously optimistic tone ahead of the European Central Bank's meeting Thursday.

The Stoxx Europe 600 was up 0.2% following a mixed session in Asia and after the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed to a fresh record close Tuesday in its longest winning streak in three years. U.S. futures pointed to small opening gains on Wall Street Wednesday.

Investors betting on central bank action have helped push riskier assets such as stocks higher in recent weeks after the U.K.'s surprise vote to leave the European Union in June triggered a market selloff. The ECB is expected to leave its policy unchanged Thursday, but many investors expect bank officials to flag that fresh stimulus will be in the cards at its September meeting.

In Asia, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.3% following six consecutive sessions of gains. The Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.3% after China's central bank unexpectedly set the yuan slightly stronger against the dollar. Australia's S&P ASX 200 rose 0.7% on the back of firmer commodity prices.

Wednesday's moves come after the U.S. dollar rose to a four-month high Tuesday following stronger-than-expected U.S. homebuilding numbers. The report is the latest in a series of solid U.S. economic data releases that have revived hopes of the Federal Reserve raising interest rates this year—a move expected to boost the greenback. The euro was 0.3% lower against the dollar at $1.0990 Wednesday, while the yen was 0.1% higher against the greenback at ¥ 106.1440.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose for an eighth consecutive session Wednesday to reach a fresh record close as investors continued to digest the latest batch of second-quarter earnings from U.S. corporations. Morgan Stanley is among the firms due to report earnings Wednesday.

Kenan Machado contributed to this article.

Write to Christopher Whittall at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 20, 2016 04:15 ET (08:15 GMT)

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