LIVE MARKETS-Europe before the bell: futures mostly lower

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EUROPE BEFORE THE BELL: FUTURES MOSTLY LOWER

European equity futures are mostly lower on Thursday after the minutes from the Fed's December meeting reinforced that the central bank can slow its pace of rate cuts at the start of 2025.

Euro STOXX 50 STXEc1 futures are down 0.3%, DAX FDXc1 futures lower by 0.1% and CAC FCEc1 futures are down 0.4%

Britain's bond market continues to be in focus after yields spiked to multi-year highs on Wednesday on worries about fiscal sustainability.

For now, Britain's blue-chips .FTSE are holding firm and futures are up 0.4% on Thursday after the index ended little changed the day before. The FTSE 250 .FTMC index of mid-cap stocks fell 2% on Wednesday.

In corporate news, Britain's retailers are reporting after the holiday period, with Tesco TSCO.L maintaining its annual profit outlook and M&S MKS.L reporting an 8.9% rise in food sales over Christmas.

(Samuel Indyk)

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