European Shares Poised For Positive Opening

(RTTNews) - European stocks may open on a firm note on Friday as softer U.S. inflation prints helped ease Fed rate hike concerns for the time being.

That said, potential gains are likely to remain capped in the wake of persistent geopolitical tensions in West Asia and U.S. President Donald Trump's latest tariff announcements targeting China-linked goods routed through third countries.

More than 40 countries, including Canada, Japan and the EU are enabling the evasion of levies for $60bn in trade via 'transshipment scam', the White House said in a report.

The Trump administration said it would use artificial intelligence to identify illegal trade practices in the future.

President Trump also signed a proclamation introducing new tariffs of up to 100 percent on imported unmanned aircraft systems and their components to encourage increased domestic production. The tariffs will take effect in 21 days.

Meanwhile, a U.S. court has ruled in favor of Trump's 2025 decision to rescind a "de minimis" exemption for tariffs.

On the geopolitical front, the U.S. indicated that it would maintain a naval blockade of Iran indefinitely and would ratchet up economic pressure on Tehran amid stalemate in talks.

Asian markets were mixed, even as technology stocks extended gains amid renewed enthusiasm for artificial-intelligence spending.

Gold was subdued at $4,319 an ounce after retreating from a 10-week high due to prevailing uncertainty over efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The precious metal, however, remained on track for a second weekly gain on easing rate-hike worries.

Brent crude futures were little changed around $87 a barrel after falling over 2 percent in the previous session to snap a six-day advance on forecasts of weaker global demand and data showing a sharp build in U.S. crude inventories.

Overnight, U.S. stocks closed higher as falling oil prices on demand concerns coupled with soft producer price inflation data reinforced bets that the Fed will keep interest rates unchanged next month.

The producer price reading was flat in July compared with expectations for a 0.2 percent increase. On an annual basis, it slowed to 4.7 percent from 5.5 percent in June.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite surged 0.8 percent to reach a two-month closing high and the S&P 500 added 0.7 percent to hit a new record closing high while the narrower Dow ticked up 0.1 percent.

European stocks edged lower on Thursday amid uncertainty over the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

The pan-European STOXX 600 finished marginally lower. The German DAX slid 0.1 percent, France's CAC 40 dipped 0.3 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 declined 0.6 percent.