European Shares Seen Opening Up Despite Debt Ceiling, Bank Worries

European stocks may open on a positive note Friday as soft U.S. producer price inflation data released overnight suggested that the Federal Reserve was making progress in taming inflation.

Asian markets traded mostly lower amid lingering worries over the U.S. debt ceiling and fresh fears of a deepening banking sector crisis after PacWest announced it lost almost a tenth of deposits in the first week of May.

Oil and gold prices dipped in Asian trade as the dollar gained on safe-haven demand amid an uncertain outlook for rates and economic growth.

The economic calendar remains light today, with U.K. GDP and France CPI data awaited later in the day.

Across the Atlantic, reports on import and export prices and consumer sentiment may attract attention. The latter includes readings on inflation expectations.

U.S. stocks ended mixed overnight, with uncertainty over the debt ceiling, jitters over the health of regional banks and Disney’s streaming business woes keeping investors nervous.

In economic releases, U.S. producer prices showed a moderate rise last month, while the number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits jumped last week to the highest level since late 2021, separate reports showed.

The Dow shed 0.7 percent to end lower for the fourth consecutive session and the S&P 500 slid 0.2 percent to snap a four-day winning streak, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite edged up 0.2 percent to reach its best closing level in over eight months.

European stocks ended broadly lower on Thursday as investors reacted to U.S. and Chinese inflation data as well as the Bank of England’s interest-rate decision.

Traders also factored in a possible mild recession in the U.S. later this year.

The pan European STOXX 600 ended flat with a negative bias. The German DAX dropped 0.4 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 eased 0.1 percent while France’s CAC 40 rose 0.3 percent.

Source: Read Full Article