Stock markets are anticipated to open lower on Thursday as a result of the U.S. Federal Reserve's hawkish comments.

Stock markets are anticipated to open lower on Thursday as a result of the U.S. Federal Reserve's hawkish comments and due to caution ahead of other central bank meetings in Europe and the United Kingdom.

After delivering four straight 75 bps rate hikes, the Fed ended its final policy-setting meeting of the year on Wednesday by raising interest rates by 50 basis points, as was generally anticipated. However, the Fed also indicated that there would be additional increases before the end of 2023.

Furthermore, Fed Chair Jerome Powell cautioned that, given that inflation is still much above the central bank's target range, borrowing costs are likely to peak at higher-than-expected levels.

This led to the major market indices on Wall Street closing down on Wednesday, and Thursday is expected to see more of the same in Europe.

The scene is now set for the Bank of England and the European Central Bank to announce their most recent interest rate increases in their battles against historically high inflation rates, in addition to the Norges Bank and the Swiss National Bank.

As the European economies as a whole edge closer to the recession, the BoE and the ECB are both planning to scale back the number of their rate hikes to 50 basis points from 75 bps last time.

Prior to this, it is expected that French consumer prices will have climbed 0.4% the month in November, representing a 6.2% annual increase, which is consistent with the prior month and illustrates the region's inflation's sticky character.

The fact that China, the second-largest economy in the world and a significant export market for European businesses, experienced significantly lower industrial production and retail sales in November than projected was another factor that dampened the mood.

Due to concerns about demand growth in the upcoming months sparked by the Federal Reserve's hawkish tone and China's bad economic data, crude oil prices dipped on Thursday, capping a three-day gain.

The official Energy Information Administration data, which showed a substantial 10 million barrel increase in U.S. oil stocks last week, added additional weight to the argument that the world's largest economy's near-term demand remained restrained.

Key Events:

• BoE Interest Rate Decision at 12:00 GMT.
• ECB Interest Rate Decision at 13:15 GMT.
• US Core Retail Sales at 13:30 GMT.
• US Initial Jobless Claims at 13:30 GMT.