European Shares Likely To Open On Steady Note

(RTTNews) - European stocks may open on a positive note Friday despite an uptick in U.S. Treasury yields.

Fed officials continue to offer mixed signals, adding to the uncertainty over the Federal Reserve's trajectory.

Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic said on Thursday he expects policymakers to start cutting rates in the third quarter of this year and the goal ahead is to calibrate policy to be not so restrictive.

Investors will also closely monitor the ongoing Middle East conflict after the U.S. conducted strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen, and Pakistan retaliated with military strikes on separatist targets in response to Iran's action.

Asian markets traded mostly higher, with big tech stocks leading the way after Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the main supplier of chips to Apple Inc. and Nvidia Corp., said it sees a return to solid growth this quarter.

Inflation in Japan slowed for a second straight month, increasing the chance that the Bank of Japan will keep its ultra-low interest rates unchanged at its upcoming meeting next week.

The dollar headed for a second weekly gain while gold headed for a weekly loss on the recalibration of Fed rate-cut bets.

Oil prices were marginally lower as the International Energy Agency (IEA) raised its 2024 global oil demand growth forecast, adding that global oil supply will hit a new high of 103.5m bbl/day in the year.

In economic releases, U.K. retail sales figures, producer price data from Germany and U.S. reports on existing home sales and consumer sentiment are awaited later in the day.

U.S. stocks rose overnight as AI optimism buoyed tech stocks, offsetting investor anxiety surrounding possible interest rate cuts.

A measure of weekly jobless claims dropped to the lowest level in nearly 1-1/2 years in a sign of a tight labor market.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite surged 1.4 percent, the S&P 500 added 0.9 percent and the Dow rose half a percent.

European stocks rose for the first time in three days on Thursday as investors reacted to upbeat corporate earnings and the release of the ECB's December meeting minutes.

The pan European STOXX 600 advanced 0.6 percent. The German DAX climbed 0.8 percent, France's CAC 40 jumped 1.1 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 inched up 0.2 percent.