European Shares Seen Higher At Open

(RTTNews) - European shares are seen opening higher on Friday after U.S. reciprocal tariffs took effect at midnight on Thursday.

There's less turbulence with tariffs, but a lot of questions remain as to how they are going to affect consumers and businesses.

Meanwhile, Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller is emerging as one of the top contenders to replace Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell alongside Kevin Warsh and Kevin Hassett.

Waller impressed members of Trump's team during a recent meeting for his in-depth knowledge of the central bank's inner workings, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday.

Asian markets were mostly lower, though Japan's Nikkei surged nearly 2 percent after clarity emerged over U.S. tariffs and SoftBank Group reported a swing back to profit in the first quarter.

The dollar slipped for a sixth consecutive session and was on track for its longest losing streak since March 2024.

Gold was little changed below $3,400 per ounce, while oil prices were subdued and headed for their biggest weekly losses since June on fears of oversupply. U.S. stocks ended mixed overnight as new U.S. tariffs hit dozens of trading partners and President Trump hinted at chip tariff carveouts.

Three Federal Reserve officials voiced concerns over the labor market as data showed continuing claims for unemployment benefits reached their highest level since November 2021.

Meanwhile, Trump tapped Stephen Miran, one of his top economic advisers, to temporarily serve on the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.4 percent, while the S&P 500 finished marginally lower and the Dow fell half a percent.

European stocks closed mostly higher on Thursday after reports suggested that U.S. President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are preparing to meet "in the coming days". The pan-European STOXX 600 gained 0.9 percent.

The German DAX climbed 1.1 percent and France's CAC 40 rallied 1 percent while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 declined 0.7 percent as the Bank of England cut its benchmark interest rate for the fifth time in a year and hinted that the easing cycle is nearing its end.