European Shares Eye Firm Start Before Warsh Speech

(RTTNews) - European stocks are set to open on a firm note on Friday after Wall Street's major indexes closed higher overnight, led by a rally in technology shares.

That said. U.S. equity futures were mixed as investors await Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh's speech at the Jackson Hole economic symposium later in the day.

Despite Warsh's reluctance to provide traditional forward guidance, his remarks on the central bank's approach to inflation, interest rates, the economy and its broader policy framework might significantly shape market expectations regarding potential interest rate hikes.

Asian markets were mixed in cautious trade as investors looked for greater clarity over whether talks between Iran and Qatar might open the Strait of Hormuz and reduce supply disruptions from the Middle East war.

The U.S. dollar index was muted while U.S. Treasury yields inched up slightly ahead of Warsh's speech.

Gold dipped half a percent to $4,579 an ounce but was on course for its strongest monthly advance since 1999.

Brent crude futures fell slightly to $88.32 a barrel and were on track to snap a two-week winning streak amid improving supply prospects through the Strait of Hormuz.

U.S. stocks closed higher overnight as upbeat earnings and guidance from Nvidia helped ease fears about the sustainability of the artificial-intelligence boom.

CrowdStrike's upbeat outlook and Salesforce's announcement of a deal with Anthropic to offer its services through Claude also fueled gains in technology and semiconductor shares.

However, buying interest waned later in the session as Brent crude prices surged more than $2 per barrel after the White House confirmed it was not in talks with Iran despite diplomatic efforts by other countries.

In economic releases, jobless claims slid again last week, while wholesale inventories jumped far above forecasts in July and the merchandise-trade deficit widened in July to the largest since early last year, a slew of reports showed.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite surged 1.6 percent, the S&P 500 advanced 0.7 percent and the Dow added 0.2 percent.

European stocks closed lower on Thursday, with concerns about political instability in France and hawkish signals from ECB policymakers weighing on sentiment.

The pan-European STOXX 600 fell 0.7 percent. France's CAC 40 tumbled 1.7 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 shed 0.8 percent while the German DAX rose 0.3 percent on signs of improving consumer sentiment.