On Thursday, the markets widely expect the ECB to move its official deposit rate deeper into negative territory, cutting it to possibly as low as -0.5%.

Oil futures rallied yesterday erasing losses on strong jobs data and US government forecasts for lower domestic crude production growth and higher global demand for oil.

The US Federal Reserve cited an improving economy as it ended its landmark bond-buying programme and pointed to gains in the jobs market – a key condition for an eventual interest rate hike.