European Stock Futures Edge Lower; Fed Minutes Prompt Caution

European stock markets are expected to open marginally lower Thursday, with investors reacting cautiously as the minutes from the Federal Reserve's last meeting pointed to further aggressive tightening ahead. At 2 AM ET (0600 GMT), the DAX futures contract in Germany traded 0.3% lower, CAC 40 futures in France traded 0.1% lower, and the FTSE 100 futures contract in the U.K. fell 0.3%. The minutes from the Fed's May 3-4 meeting, released on Wednesday, showed that all policymakers supported the central bank’s rate increase of 50 basis points, the first of that size in more than 20 years.