Investing.com - The Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) is predicted to start Thursday's trading with a slight dip, following on from the previous session's losses. The majority of European markets also ended in the red, while Wall Street remained closed for a federal holiday.
In local market news, popular Mexican fast-food chain Guzman y Gomez is scheduled to join the ASX at 12pm, following a successful initial public offering (IPO) that raised close to $335 million. The IPO price was set at $22 per share, valuing the company at $2.2 billion.
In another significant development, the ASX will witness the debut of its first bitcoin fund. This comes after Van Eck successfully obtained regulatory approval for its offering. Monochrome and Global X already have bitcoin ETFs trading on the alternative Cboe exchange.
In response to Van Eck's offering, Global X announced a reduction in the management fees for its ETF to 0.59%. Each of the three providers claims their funds provide unique benefits to investors.
On the international front, New Zealand is expected to release its first-quarter GDP statistics at 8.45am. Later in the day, the Bank of England will announce its policy decision at 9pm, with additional policy decisions expected from central banks in Norway and Switzerland.
In Europe, the STOXX 600 index closed down by nearly 0.2%, with the real estate sector falling 1.2% and technology stocks declining by 1.1%. Meanwhile, in London, the FTSE 100 managed to close 0.2% higher, marking its first time above the crucial 8200 level in a week, although the mid-cap FTSE 250 index fell by 0.1%.