Jul 08, 2022 02:00AM ET
By: AnalysisWatch
European stock markets are expected to open marginally lower on Friday, ending the week on a cautious note ahead of a speech by ECB President Christine Lagarde and the highly anticipated monthly US jobs report.
At 02:00 AM ET (0600 GMT), DAX futures in Germany were trading 0.3% lower, CAC 40 futures in France were down 0.1% and FTSE 100 futures in the UK were down 0.4%.
European indices closed sharply higher on Thursday, continuing the rebound seen after a brutal sell-off in the first half of the year as investors tried to shake off worries about a looming recession.
However, central bank actions are keeping investors on edge as they try to gauge the impact of aggressive interest rate hikes on global growth.
Against this backdrop, a speech by European Central Bank chief Christine Lagarde on the risks to the global economy later in the session will be of great interest before the central bank is expected to raise interest rates at its next meeting.
In Europe, Friday's economic calendar includes French trade data and Italian industrial production.
The shooting of Japanese ex-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday during the election campaign, as well as the ongoing political crisis in the UK that led to the resignation of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, are creating uncertainty in global markets.
US crude oil inventories hit a two-month high last week, according to Energy Information Administration data released on Thursday, with stockpiles at just over 8 million barrels.
At 02:00 AM ET, US crude futures were trading 0.1% lower at $102.63 a barrel, while the Brent contract was up 0.3% at $104.98. Both benchmarks fell to near three-month lows on Wednesday, while the Brent contract was down $10.73 on Tuesday, the third steepest decline since trading began in 1988.
In addition, gold futures rose 0.1% to $1,741.35/oz, while EUR/USD retreated to 1.0158
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