BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European bourses are expected to trade mixed on the last day of the week as traders weigh in a series of monetary policy pronouncements as well as recent economic indicators. Silence from China's Evergrande group on the status of its dollar bond coupon payments is also likely to keep the markets on tenterhooks. While U.K. is expected to open with a weak sentiment, other regional peers are seen holding on to gains, amidst a reemergence of pain points like economic recovery, energy crisis, pandemic etc. to the center stage. The mood at Frankfurt bourse is likely to be cautious ahead of Sunday's Federal Elections in Germany.
Overnight, the Wall Street continued its relief rally post the Fed's announcement on Wednesday that provided much needed clarity on the Fed's tapering plans. Nasdaq-100 rallied 0.42 percent to close at 15,316.58, whereas Dow Jones Industrial Average moved up further by 1.48 percent to end at 34,764.82.
On Thursday, most of the European markets had recovered smartly after the U.S. Federal Reserve and key central banks in the region viz Bank of England, Swiss National Bank and Norway's Norges Bank had let known their thinking on monetary policy and interest rate trajectory. France's CAC-40 was the best performer gaining 0.98 percent, closely followed by pan-European Stoxx 600 that added 0.93 percent, German DAX that rallied 0.89 percent and Switzerland's SMI 20 that increased 0.85 percent. U.K.'s FTSE-100 was however overwhelmed by the Bank of England's commentary as well as the PMI dips and corrected by 0.07 percent.
Data released after the bell on Thursday had indicated that the United Kingdom's GfK Consumer Confidence index declined to -13 in September from -8 in the previous month as anxieties heightened on energy bills, food costs and tax hikes. Markets had expected a reading of -8.
Dollar Index has now retreated by 0.36 percent to 93.13 from 93.46 at Thursday's close as risk appetite takes its toll on the greenback post the Fed's recent announcements. In tandem, the EURUSD pair has increased to 1.1739 from the previous close of 1.1736 while the GBPUSD pair has moved up to 1.3719 from the previous close of 1.3716.
Gold futures for December settlement are trading at $1753.65 per troy ounce, about 0.22 percent higher than the previous close of $1749.80 largely reflective of the general dollar weakness.
WTI Crude for November settlement is trading at $73.42, up 0.16 percent from the previous close whereas Brent Crude for November settlement is trading at $77.48, up 0.30 percent from the previous close. Tight supplies and strong risk-appetite continue to drive the black fluid higher.
American futures point to bearish trends as Nasdaq 100 stock futures is currently in mild negative territory with a decline of 0.19 percent and the Dow Jones Futures is edging down 0.06 percent.
Asian markets are mostly trading negative on Friday except Japan's Nikkei 225 that is higher by more than 2 percent and India's BSE Sensex which is up by 0.64 percent. Evergrande and pandemic continued to haunt the Asia-pacific markets and dampened trading sentiment. China's Shanghai Composite is down 0.42 percent; Australia's S&P ASX 200 is down 0.39 percent; New Zealand's NZX 50 is lower by 0.35 percent; South Korea's Kospi is down by 0.14 percent; and Hong Kong's Hang Seng is down 0.07 percent.
Earnings updates are due from several U.K.-based companies including leisure travel company Carnival plc, retail meat packing company Hilton Food Group plc, pharmaceutical company 4D Pharma plc as well Judges Scientific plc that designs and manufactures scientific instruments.
Germany awaits data releases on Ifo Business Climate, Ifo Current Conditions, Ifo Expectations etc.
CBI Distributive Trades Report for September is also due from U.K. for the day.
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