Peter Nurse 

Investing.com – European stock markets are expected to open higher Thursday, as investors digest the formation of a new governing coalition in Germany as well as the region’s ongoing Covid-19 crisis.  

The contract in Germany was 0.2% lower at 2:05 AM ET (705 GMT), while the one in France rose 0.6%, and that in the United Kingdom rose 0.3%.

After nearly two months of negotiation, the Social Democrats (Greens, and the Free Democrats) reached a compromise on Wednesday. Olaf Scholz from the Social Democrats will replace Angela Merkel after 16 years as German chancellor.

Although the coalition may promote more public investment in order to move towards a sustainable economy, it is most likely that its first priority will be to combat the returning coronavirus epidemic on the continent.

Scholz announced Wednesday that mandatory vaccinations for selected groups are now required, however further steps may be necessary in order to address the recent surge of cases.

Italy issued new restrictions on Wednesday night, while France and the Netherlands are likely to announce new measures Friday. Austria instituted a lockdown in its national capital at the beginning of this week.

Turning to the economic calendar, Germany’s third-quarter rose 1.7% on the month, a slight disappointment from the expected 1.8% growth, while the December reading of the country’s showed a drop in confidence, coming in at -1.6, a drop from the previous month’s revised 1.0.

The corporate sector Remy cointreau (PA:) raised its full year profit outlook after reporting a hefty jump in first-half operating profit, driven by strong demand for the drink group’s premium cognac in China, the United States and Europe.

Crude prices edged lower Thursday with investors looking towards next week’s OPEC+ meeting for a reaction to the coordinated release of oil from government reserves by a number of major consumers, led by the United States.

Since August, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Russia and its allies), a group called OPEC+ has added 400,000 barrels of oil per day to the global market. It meets Dec. 2 in order to determine if it will continue this trend.

The U.S. oil supply data for Wednesday showed that there was a slight increase of 1,000,000 barrels in crude oil last week.

U.S. crude futures had fallen 0.1% to $82.16 at 2:05 am ET.

Also, the price rose 0.5% at $1,794.10/oz and traded 0.2% higher to 1.1218.