Investing.com - European stock markets are expected to open lower Friday, with investors digesting fresh U.K. growth data, while the rise in U.S. inflation has done little to improve sentiment.
At 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT), the DAX futures contract in Germany traded 0.4% lower, CAC 40 futures in France dropped 0.5% and the FTSE 100 futures contract in the U.K. fell 0.2%.
The main European indices recorded strong gains on Thursday, but are likely to hand back some of these advances as the week nears its end and investors digest the latest U.S. inflation data.
Although the U.S. CPI grew as expected in July from the prior month, boosting expectations that the Federal Reserve will keep rates unchanged in September, it remained substantially above the central bank’s medium-term target, implying rate cuts are still some way off.
U.K. GDP shows little growth
While the Fed could pause next month, the Bank of England is seen continuing to tighten monetary policy with U.K. inflation among the highest in the developed world.
That said, U.K. gross domestic product rose slightly more than expected in the second quarter, climbing 0.2% on the quarter and 0.4% on an annual basis, rising 0.5% in June alone.
Elsewhere, the French unemployment rate rose to 7.2% in the second quarter, up from 7.1% the prior quarter, while French and Spanish inflation numbers for July are due later in the session.
Across the pond, Fed policymakers will have another inflation reading to digest in the form of the producer price index, as well as consumer confidence data.
UBS terminates Credit Suisse takeover backstop
The quarterly earnings season is starting to ease down, with a few tier-one companies scheduled to report earnings Friday.
Switzerland's biggest lender UBS (SIX:UBSG) said Friday it will not need to take advantage of the Swiss government's over $10 billion backstop agreed as part of the state-sponsored takeover of Credit Suisse.
Crude largely flat; OPEC retains oil demand growth forecasts
Oil prices steadied Friday, with traders trying to digest U.S. inflation data, concerns about a stuttering economic recovery in China, the world’s largest oil importer, as well as optimistic demand forecasts from OPEC.
Thursday’s U.S. CPI release saw the dollar climbing, hurting the crude market as it makes the commodity more expensive for buyers holding foreign currencies.
Growing concerns over China’s economy also weighed on oil markets, but this was counterbalanced by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries confirming on Thursday that it still expects world oil demand to rise by 2.25 million barrels per day in 2024, compared with growth of 2.44 million barrels per day this year.
By 02:00 ET, the U.S. crude futures traded 0.1% lower at $82.76 a barrel, while the Brent contract dropped 0.1% to $86.30.
Additionally, gold futures fell 0.1% to $1,947.65/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.1% higher at 1.0993.