A look at the day ahead in European and global markets from

Stella Qiu

It was Oracle mania that lighted a fire under Asian tech

stocks on Thursday, as Japan, Taiwan and South

Korea set records in what was otherwise set to be a

subdued session before high-stakes U.S. inflation data.

Tech investor SoftBank surged 9% in Tokyo after

Stargate Project partner Oracle soared 36% in its

biggest one-day gain since 1992, taking the 48-year-old tech

firm close to the exclusive $1 trillion market-cap club.

That was all thanks to Oracle's expectations that AI will

drive demand for its cloud infrastructure. That prompted pretty

much everything AI-related in Asia to rise, by 1.2% in the

Nikkei, 1% in Taiwan and 1.8% for Chinese blue chips.

AI fever did not stretch to European stocks which looked set

for a muted open ahead of an interest rate decision from the

European Central Bank. EUROSTOXX 50 futures inched up a

0.1%; German futures even less.

The ECB, which halved its policy rate to 2% in the year to

June, is widely expected to hold steady, leaving the focus on

whether it keeps the door ajar for further policy easing.

Markets imply about a 60% chance of a move by early next

year.

The next big risk event will be U.S. consumer price index

data. The headline CPI likely rose 2.9% from a year earlier, the

fastest pace since January, while the core measure likely held

at 3.1%, a Reuters poll showed.

A benign producer price index report has fanned hope for an

in-line CPI, or at least nothing above 3%. Given downside risk

to the labour market, investors are wagering it would take a

shocking number to derail a quarter-point rate cut from the

Federal Reserve next week, which is more than fully priced in.

For all of 2025, futures are pricing in total easing of

67 basis points, equivalent to two to three interest rate cuts.

A tame CPI report could fuel bets of a 50 basis-point

cut from the Fed next week, slug the dollar and drive Treasury

yields lower.

A wild report would make things tricky for the Fed and lead

markets to price out a third cut for this year.

Key developments that could influence markets on

Thursday:

* European Central Bank policy decision

* U.S. CPI for August

* U.S. weekly jobless claims

* 30-year U.S. Treasury bond auction