European stocks rose today, Thursday, as traders reacted to a large number of earnings reports in the morning and awaited the European Central Bank's decision on monetary policy following the Federal Reserve's (U.S. Central Bank) interest rate hike as expected. The "Stoxx 600 European" index increased by 0.4 percent, following an uptick in Asian stocks amid optimism that the U.S. interest rate tightening cycle may be coming to an end after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 25 basis points yesterday to a range between 5.25 percent and 5.50 percent. The European Central Bank is expected to raise interest rates for the ninth consecutive time later today and keep the door open for further actions. The decision is scheduled to be announced at 12:15 GMT. On a busy earnings day, Nestlé's stock rose by 1.2 percent after the world's largest packaged food company raised its sales outlook for its core activities for the entire year and reported better-than-expected sales in the first half of the year while raising prices again.