The Federal Reserve kicked off its campaign to lower interest rates with a larger-than-typical half percentage-point cut, while the Bank of England decided against a second consecutive reduction.

The Fed's newest iteration of the dot plot has a median projection of 50 bp this year, while the market has nearly 75 bp discounted.

European stocks jumped on Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve delivered a 50-basis-point rate cut and flagged that further easing would be measured, raising hopes of a soft landing for the American economy.