FX.co ★ European Stocks Steady Ahead ECB Meeting

European stock markets mostly ended unchanged on Tuesday, rebounding from losses exceeding 1% earlier in the day. This shift followed unexpectedly low inflation data from the Eurozone, which bolstered anticipations of a 25 basis point interest rate cut by the European Central Bank (ECB) later this week. At the same time, global growth concerns dampened the mood as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) revised its global GDP growth forecast downwards, predicting a slowdown from 3.3% in 2024 to 2.9% in both 2025 and 2026, citing heightened trade tensions as a key factor. Adding to the market's unease, political instability intensified in the Netherlands with the government's collapse over immigration policy disagreements. In corporate developments, healthcare real estate companies Aedifica and Cofinimmo announced a merger, creating the largest healthcare property entity in Europe. Concurrently, British American Tobacco projected a return to revenue and profit growth in its US operations for this year and increased its annual sales growth target to 1-2%.