LONDON — European markets on Tuesday were slightly higher as earnings continue to dominate stock action and investors brace for central bank decisions in the U.S. and U.K.index was 0.2% higher at around 10 a.m. in London, with most sectors in positive territory. While most major bourses gained, London'sup over 5% after the U.K. bank announced its biggest-ever share buyback, of $1.
First-quarter GDP was confirmed at 0.3%, unchanged from the initial reading announced earlier in the year. Attention is also on the Federal Reserve's July meeting which wraps up Wednesday, with market pricing indicating this could be the last Fed hold before the central bank starts cutting interest rates.Investors will be closely monitoring the language used in Fed communications after the revision in June of its forward-looking"dot plot" to
The Fed will be followed by the Bank of England's monetary policy meeting on Thursday. The decision on whether to bring rates lower or keep them steady is seen as being on a knife-edge despite U.K. inflation coming in at the BOE's 2% target for the last two months.Decision 2024