European Shares Seen Flat To Higher At Open

(RTTNews) - European stocks are seen opening flat to slightly higher on Friday as investors look for the next trigger to move markets. A day after U.S. President Donald Trump announced that India has offered to "literally charge us no tariffs" on American goods, India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar labelled the talks "complicated' and warning "nothing is decided till everything is…"

"Any trade deal has to be mutually beneficial; it has to work for both countries. That would be our expectation from any trade deal. Until that is done, any judgement will be premature," Mr Jaishankar told reporters at the opening of the Honduras' new embassy in New Delhi.

Asian markets were mostly lower as investors parsed downbeat data from Japan.

The U.S. dollar remained weak and Treasury yields dipped ahead of a preliminary consumer sentiment reading due later in the day along with reports on import and export prices and housing starts.

Gold edged lower and was on track for its worst week in six months. Oil prices rose after two days of losses on fears of a global oil glut, following comments from Trump that the U.S. and Iran were moving closer towards a nuclear deal.

The European economic calendar remains light today, with foreign trade figures from the euro area and unemployment data from France awaited.

U.S. stocks ended a lackluster session on a mixed note overnight while Treasury yields dipped, as new data spurred speculation the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates twice this year to prevent a recession.

Producer prices unexpectedly fell by the most in five years in April, retail sales growth slowed sharply in the month, factory production declined for the first time in six months, New York state manufacturing contracted for a third month and homebuilder confidence unexpectedly slumped in May, a slew of reports revealed.

The S&P 500 rose 0.4 percent to extend gains for a fourth day running and reach its highest closing level in well over two months.

The narrower Dow gained 0.7 percent while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slid 0.2 percent.

European stocks closed higher on Thursday, with defense stocks surging after Germany backed U.S. President Trump's call to increase the defense spending target of NATO members to 5 percent of GDP.

The pan European STOXX 600 advanced 0.6 percent. The German DAX climbed 0.7 percent, France's CAC 40 edged up by 0.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 added 0.6 percent.