12:02 PM EST, 12/12/2024 (MT Newswires) -- European stock markets ended Thursday little changed as Germany's DAX gained 0.15%, the FTSE in London was up 0.12%, France's CAC was off 0.03%, Swiss Market Index increased 0.29%, while the Stoxx Europe declined 0.17%.

The European Central Bank said Thursday that it is lowering interest rates by 25 basis points to 3%.

"The disinflation process is well on track," ECB President Christine Lagarde said at a press conference Thursday. "Most measures of underlying inflation suggest that inflation will settle at around our 2% medium-term target on a sustained basis."

However, Lagarde said the ECB now expects a slower economic recovery than it did in its September forecast and projects the European economy will grow 0.7% in 2024, 1.1% in 2025, 1.4% in 2026, and 1.3% in 2027.

In Switzerland, the Swiss National Bank said Thursday that it is cutting its interest rate by 50 basis points to 0.5%. "Underlying inflationary pressure has decreased again this quarter," the central bank said in a statement. "The SNB's easing of monetary policy today takes this development into account."

And in corporate news, DBV Technologies said late Wednesday the US Food and Drug Administration has formalized guidance on an accelerated approval for the Viaskin Peanut patch in peanut-allergic children aged between one and three years. Shares of the French biopharmaceutical company closed more than 8% higher on the Euronext Paris.

Rio Tinto said Thursday it will invest $2.5 billion to expand capacity at its Rincon lithium project in Argentina to 60,000 tonnes of battery grade lithium carbonate annually. The British mining company said it expects to begin construction of the expansion plant, which will have a capacity of 57,000 tonnes, in mid-2025, with first production anticipated in 2028.

French semiconductor company STMicroelectronics and Quobly said Thursday they are collaborating to produce quantum computing processor units at scale. Financial terms were not disclosed.