European stocks may drift lower on Thursday despite strong earnings from Meta Platforms Inc and IBM.<\/p>\n
Inflation concerns loom large following a spike in bond yields on fears that interest rates could stay higher for longer. <\/p>\n
Asian markets<\/span> traded mostly lower, with benchmark indexes in Japan and South Korea falling more than 2 percent.<\/p>\n A recent surge in government bond yields has led to speculation that the Bank of Japan may tweak its yield curve control policy at next week’s meeting.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, European Central Bank policymakers are widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged when they meet in Athens later today. <\/p>\n The Federal Reserve is also expected to keep its short-term rate unchanged when it meets next week. <\/p>\n The dollar ticked up ahead of preliminary third-quarter U.S. GDP data and reports on weekly jobless claims, durable goods orders and pending home sales due to be released later in the day. <\/p>\n Economists expect the pace of GDP to show a significant acceleration to 4.2 percent in the third quarter from 2.1 percent in the second quarter.<\/p>\n On Friday, the Commerce Department is due to release a report on personal income and spending that includes readings on inflation said to be preferred by the Federal Reserve.<\/p>\n Fed Chair Jerome Powell didn’t not comment on monetary policy or economic outlook in prepared remarks on Wednesday before the 2023 Moynihan Lecture in Social Science and Public Policy event.<\/p>\n Gold ticked higher on Middle East tensions while oil edged down slightly, after having risen nearly 2 percent in the U.S. trading session to snap a three-day losing streak.<\/p>\n In a televised statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday said Israel is preparing a ground invasion of Gaza but didn’t provide any details.<\/p>\n Overnight, U.S. stocks fell sharply following disappointing quarterly results from Google-parent Alphabet and an uptick in Treasury yields.<\/p>\n The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite plummeted 2.4 percent to log its biggest single-day loss since Feb. 21 and the S&P 500 tumbled 1.4 percent to end below the 4,200 level for the first time since May, while the narrower Dow dropped 0.3 percent.<\/p>\n European stocks closed mixed on Wednesday as investors reacted to Middle East tensions and a slew of earnings both in the U.S. and Europe.<\/p>\n The pan-European STOXX 600 ended little changed with a positive bias. The German DAX finished marginally higher, while France’s CAC 40 and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 both rose about 0.3 percent. <\/p>\n