london european stocks are set for a muted open thursday as investors digest corporate earnings and look ahead to a new rate decision by the european central bank the uks ftse 100 is set to rise by just 3 points to 7251 germanys dax is set to slip 3 points to 15694 and frances cac is set to fall 8 points to 6741 according to ig european traders will digest a busy morning of earnings with shell airbus stellantis total and volkswagen just some of those reporting before the bell meanwhile traders will monitor a rate decision by the ecb and a subsequent press conference with president christine lagarde the market will look for further clues on when the central bank will look to formally taper its asset purchases in asia shares were lower in thursday trade as the bank of japan announced its decision to hold steady on monetary policy