European stocks advance ahead of ECB, NFP

FXStreet (Córdoba) - European stocks were mostly higher Thursday as investors await the European Central Bank policy outcome and the US employment report.

The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.24% to 346.48, after gaining 1.1% in the past two days. Among country indexes, UK FTSE 100 climbed 0.34%. Germany's DAX 30 gained 0.37% and France’s CAC 40 added 0.47%. Italy’s FTSE MIB rose 0.57% while Spain’s Ibex 35 was down 0.13%.

In the macroeconomic domain, the ECB will decide on monetary policy with consensus pointing to an on-hold meeting. Draghi will hold a press conference later and the US will release the nonfarm payrolls numbers. Most analysts are expecting a job gain above 200K for a fifth month.

In the FX market, the EUR/USD is a tad higher at 1.3660 ahead of fundamental data, while GBP/USD is little changed around 1.7150. The USD/JPY is just below 102.00, while the AUD/USD fell sharply following RBA Stevens dovish comments.

As for commodities, gold lost 0.59% to $1323 an ounce while crude oil shed 0.36% to $104.10 a barrel.