Markets Quiet Ahead of ECB Meeting

Markets in Europe were little changed early Thursday as investors looked ahead to a meeting of European Central Bank officials concluding later in the day.

ECB policy makers are expected to postpone major policy decisions until early December, when they will have fresh economic forecasts, but many investors will be looking for reassurance from President Mario Draghi that the bank's large bond-purchase program won't end abruptly.

The Stoxx Europe 600 inched down 0.1% in the early minutes of trading, shrugging off gains in Asia and on Wall Street. The media sector was the worst performer, with shares of Publicis Groupe off 5.4% after the French company missed forecasts for third-quarter sales. Shares of Mediaset SpA also fell 4.6%.

Shares of travel companies moved higher, however, as shares of Deutsche Lufthansa rose 9.5% after the German airline lifted its full-year earnings forecast despite issuing a profit warning three months ago.

Earlier, stocks in Asia advanced, after higher oil prices and better-than-expected earnings sent the S&P 500 to a higher close for a second consecutive session. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 1.4%, leading gains in the region, as the dollar advanced 0.4% against the yen.

The WSJ Dollar Index was up 0.2% early Thursday after Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William Dudley said late Wednesday that he expected the bank would be able to raise rates by the end of the year. The euro was down less than 0.1% against the dollar at $1.0968.

The final U.S. presidential debate appeared to carry little weight for stocks, with futures pointing to a flat opening for the S&P 500.

Write to Riva Gold at riva.gold@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 20, 2016 04:15 ET (08:15 GMT)

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