European markets closed up slightly after stocks soared to an all-time high in the previous session.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 provisionally closed higher by 0.02%, with sectors mixed. Tech and travel stocks led the losses, down 0.7% and 1.17%, respectively.
The market moves come after a flurry of interest rate decisions in recent days.
The Swiss National Bank surprised markets on Thursday by lowering its main policy rate by 0.25 percentage points to 1.5%. The decision made Switzerland the first major economy to cut interest rates in a sign of policymakers’ growing confidence in the battle to tame inflation.
The Bank of England held interest rates as expected on Thursday, but hinted cuts could be on the horizon as inflation falls faster than anticipated. Meanwhile, Norway’s central bank kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged and forecast a single cut to the cost of borrowing later in the year.
Earlier in the week, the Federal Reserve reaffirmed expectations for three interest rate cuts this year and kept borrowing costs unchanged at its two-day March policy meeting.
Asia-Pacific markets declined on Friday, although Japan’s Nikkei 225 briefly crossed 41,000 to hit a fresh all-time high. U.S. stocks inched lower after all three major averages registered records in the previous session.
