European stock markets closed Thursday with minimal changes as Germany's DAX rose by 0.15%, the FTSE in London increased by 0.12%, France's CAC dipped 0.03%, the Swiss Market Index improved by 0.29%, while the Stoxx Europe saw a decline of 0.17%. The European Central Bank (ECB) announced on Thursday that it is reducing interest rates by 25 basis points, bringing the rate down to 3%.
"The disinflation process is well on track," stated ECB President Christine Lagarde at a press conference on Thursday. "Most measures of underlying inflation indicate that we expect inflation to stabilize around our medium-term target of 2% on a sustained basis." Yet, Lagarde mentioned that the ECB now anticipates a slower economic recovery compared to its September forecast, projecting the European economy's growth at 0.7% for 2024, 1.1% for 2025, 1.4% for 2026, and 1.3% for 2027.
In Switzerland, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) announced a cut in its interest rate by 50 basis points, setting it to 0.5%. "The underlying inflationary pressure has decreased again this quarter," stated the central bank. "The easing of monetary policy today is a reflection of this development." In corporate news, DBV Technologies reported that the US Food and Drug Administration has formalized guidance for an accelerated approval regarding the Viaskin Peanut patch for peanut-allergic children aged between one and three years.
The shares of the French biopharmaceutical company saw an increase of more than 8% on the Euronext Paris exchange. Rio Tinto announced its commitment to invest $2.5 billion in the expansion of its Rincon lithium project in Argentina, aiming to boost capacity to 60,000 tonnes of battery-grade lithium carbonate annually.
The British mining company is set to initiate construction of the expansion plant, with a capacity of 57,000 tonnes, in mid-2025 and expects the first production in 2028. Also, French semiconductor firm STMicroelectronics and Quobly disclosed their collaboration to produce quantum computing processor units at scale, although financial details were not made public..