By Peter Nurse 

Investing.com – European stock markets are expected to open higher Thursday, following Wall Street upwards after the Federal Reserve delayed tapering to later in the year while concerns over heavily indebted Chinese property group Evergrande eased.

At 2:05 AM ET (0605 GMT), the contract in Germany traded 0.6% higher, in France climbed 0.8% and the contract in the U.K. rose 0.8%.

The major European indices are expected to follow Wednesday’s positive lead from Wall Street, as all the major U.S. equity averages all closed firmly higher. For instance, the rose more than 300 points (or 1%) in just one day. 

These gains followed the U.S. central bank indicating at the conclusion of its latest that it will likely begin reducing its monthly bond purchases towards the end of this year. The positive surprise came as a pleasant surprise to those in the minority, who were expecting an immediate withdrawal from the stimulus package that was supporting the economy throughout the pandemic.

However, nine out of 18 Fed officials are ready to hike interest rates next year due to rising inflation. This is an increase from the seven Fed members who were present at the June meeting. While inflation is ahead of what was expected this year, the Fed believes it will drop to less normal levels in the future.

Also helping the tone were hefty gains in Chinese markets Thursday,  after the People’s Bank of China injected more money into the banking system, easing concerns about the fallout from China Evergrande’s debt crisis. The stricken real estate developer said Wednesday it had reached an agreement to settle interest payments on a domestic bond, but it remains unclear whether the company will be able to pay $83.5 million in  interest on its dollar bonds which is due later Thursday.

Back in Europe, the announces its latest monetary policy decision later in the session, but the central bank is not expected to change its record-low interest rates or the extent of its asset purchases. Although they may raise interest rates, Turkey and Norway’s central banks could also do so. 

The European data slate centers around the release of the flash data for an indication of the region’s economic well being. 

In corporate news, Enel (MI:), Europe’s largest utility, is planning on setting up a new company, called Gridspertise, dedicated to digital grid services, according to newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore.

Crude prices edged higher Thursday, helped by another decline in U.S. oil stocks as production in the important Gulf of Mexico region remained hampered by the damage caused by two recent hurricanes.

Data released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration on Wednesday showed fell by almost 3.5 million barrels last week, the seven straight weekly decrease, and followed on from the 6.4-million-barrel draw recorded the previous week.

A day prior, crude oil supply data released by the industry body, The, revealed a draw of slightly more than 6 million barrels.

By 2:05 AM ET, futures traded 0.2% higher at $72.38 a barrel, while the contract rose 0.2% to $76.37. 

Additionally, fell 0.9% to $1,763.20/oz, while traded 0.2% higher at 1.1711.