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The UK budget logged its second biggest deficit for the month of June on record, as high inflation pushed up the debt servicing cost of government, the Office for National Statistics said Thursday. Public sector net borrowing excluding public sector banks increased by GBP 4.1 billion to GBP 22.9 billion in June, which was the second-highest June borrowing since monthly records began in 1993.

The Bank of Japan maintained its negative interest rates and yield targets, as widely expected, and forecast inflation to breach the 2 percent target before falling back in the next fiscal year. The policy board, governed by Haruhiko Kuroda, on Thursday, voted 8-1, to maintain a negative interest rate of -0.1 percent on current accounts that financial institutions maintain at the central bank.

European stocks are seen opening slightly lower on Thursday as the region anxiously awaits the return of Russian gas supplies after a 10-day halt for annual maintenance.

The European Central Bank is set to raise interest rates for the first time in 11 years as euro area inflation remains at an undesirably elevated level. The central bank is expected to raise interest rates by 25 basis points, as the bank announced in June. The bank is also forecast to provide guidance on the proposed anti-fragmentation tool.

Indian shares were moving in a narrow range on Thursday after four consecutive sessions of gains.

Asian stock markets are trading mixed on Thursday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, as worries about economic slowdown, inflation and rate hike concerns continued to weigh on the market. Traders are also cautious ahead of the monetary policy announcements by the Bank of Japan and the European Central Bank later in the day.