ASX poised to inch higher after European lead

The news: Shares are expected to rise at the beginning of the last ASX trading day of the week, after investors in Europe were buoyed by the central bank's optimistic outlook on inflation.

The UK's FTSE 100 and German DAX closed higher, although the pan-European STOXX 600 closed a little lower. Minutes of the European Central Bank's October meeting showed policymakers were hopeful inflation will fall in the Euro zone.

US markets were closed for the Thanksgiving holiday.

The numbers: The FTSE 100 closed higher by 0.19% to 7,483.58 points. The DAX finished up by 0.23% to 15,994.73. The STOXX 600 closed lower by 0.22% to 195.51. On the domestic front, the ASX 200 futures was higher by 0.19% to 7066. The Aussie dollar was higher and buying 65.59 US cents.

The context: There is likely to be reduced trading volumes on the ASX given the holiday in the US. The Australian market has closed lower for the past two days. Adairs, NextDC, Pexa, Silver Lake Resources and WiseTech Global are among the listed businesses holding annual general meetings on Friday.