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London • European stock markets posted big gains Thursday, with many indexes reclaiming the previous day's losses. Traders were buoyed by growing expectations of more stimulus from the European Central Bank and anticipated gains on Wall Street at the open.

The British pound also enjoyed a rebound following heavy losses in the wake of concerns over Britain's future in the European Union.

KEEPING SCORE: In Europe, France's CAC 40 advanced 2.3 percent to 4,250 while Germany's DAX rose 1.7 percent to 9,318. Britain's FTSE 100 spiked 2.4 percent to 6,005. U.S. stocks were set for a solid opening, with Dow futures and the broader S&P 500 futures up 0.2 percent.

EUROZONE STIMULUS: Hopes are running high that the European Central Bank will expand its stimulus efforts at its next policy meeting on March 10 following a softer than expected inflation reading. Eurostat, the European Union's statistics agency, said the annual rate of inflation in January was 0.3 percent, against its previous estimate of 0.4 percent. The revision was not anticipated in the markets and comes ahead of Monday's first estimate for February. That figure could go a long way to determining what the ECB does at its March meeting.

ANALYST TAKE: Connor Campbell, an analyst at Spreadex, said the lower than anticipated January inflation figure has helped European stocks as investors price in an "extra injection of ECB stimulus."

OIL: The stock market gains in Europe have come despite a turn lower in oil prices. The two have often moved in sync over the past few weeks of market turmoil. Many in the markets will be hoping that the resilience is a sign that the investor jitters that have so dominated the early part of the year may be easing. The benchmark New York rate was down 6 cents at $32.09 a barrel while Brent, the international standard, was 25 cents lower at $34.16 a barrel. Both are well above lows hit earlier this month, another sign that the jitters have eased.

POUND RALLIES: The British pound has been one of the worst-performing currencies of late as it fell to 7-year lows against the dollar on fears of a potential British exit from the European Union following a referendum on the issue in June. However, the currency recouped some gains Thursday, when it advanced 0.5 percent to $1.3990.

CURRENCIES: Trading was fairly stable in currency markets, with the euro up 0.2 percent at $1.1037 and the dollar 0.4 percent higher at 112.51 yen.

ASIA'S DAY: Earlier, the Shanghai Composite index fell 6.4 percent to close at 2,741.25, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong dipped 1.6 percent to 18,888.75. Japan's Nikkei 225 stock index gained 1.4 percent to finish at 16,140.34 and South Korea's Kospi gained 0.3 percent to 1,918.57. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 inched up 0.1 percent to 4,881.20.