European stocks were set to rise on Thursday, with a batch of company results in focus ahead of the European Central bank meeting at which it is set to give further details on its massive bond-buying programme.

Shares in Carrefour will be eyed after the world’s second-largest retailer said it would boost capital expenditure this year as it seeks to cement a revival of its European hypermarkets and expand in the key emerging market of Brazil.

At 0715 GMT, futures for Euro STOXX 50, for Germany’s DAX and for France’s CAC were up 0.2-0.5 per cent.

The ECB, which starts its quantitative easing or bond-buying programme worth more than 1 trillion euros this month, is expected to detail the plan later in the day following its policy meeting.

The bank is also set to keep rates on hold, likely lift the growth forecasts to reflect a string of positive data surprises, but cut inflation projections as it incorporates the full effect of a dramatic oil price fall.

European stocks have strongly rallied since the start of the year, with the FTSEurofirst 300 index up 14 per cent in 2015, boosted by the prospect of QE.

The pharma sector will be in the spotlight on Thursday after drugmaker AbbVie Inc said it will buy Pharmacyclics Inc, the maker of blockbuster cancer drug Imbruvica, for about $21 billion to broaden its oncology drugs pipeline.

On the macro front, data showed on Thursday German industrial orders fell far more than forecast in January, posting their largest drop since August, data showed on Thursday, casting a shadow over what had previously looked like a strong start to 2015 for Europe’s largest economy.

China announced an economic growth target for 2015 of around 7 per cent and said it would boost government spending, signalling that the lowest rate of expansion for a quarter of a century is the “new normal’’ for the world's No.2 economy.

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