Europe open: Stocks nudge up ahead of ECB announcement

European stocks nudged higher in early trade on Thursday as investors awaited the latest policy announcement from the European Central Bank, with another big rate hike on the cards.

At 0850 BST, the benchmark Stoxx 600 index and France’s CAC 40 were up 0.2%, while Germany’s DAX was 0.1% firmer.

Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "With Europe facing an energy crisis, the fight in Ukraine showing no sign of ending and China still grappling with Covid outbreaks, the US right now looks like it’s getting off lightly from turbulence wracking the global economy.

"In the week Russia confirmed it’s turning off the gas taps indefinitely to Europe, escalating worries about the winter ahead, ECB has indicated it still feels it has little option but to raise rates. A wait and see mood is likely to be the order of the morning for European indices as investors watch out for policymakers' decision later to find out just how large that hike will be, and assess the extent of financial pain it could cause to companies and consumers."

In corporate news, London-listed Darktrace tanked after tech investment firm Thoma Bravo said it will not be making an offer for the cybersecurity group. Darktrace said in a statement that the two parties had been unable to reach an agreement on the terms of an offer.

Primark owner Associated British Foods also suffered heavy losses as it warned that adjusted operating profit and earnings per share for the next financial year will be lower than this financial year.