European Shares Seen Tad Higher As World Braces For Alaska Talks

(RTTNews) - European stocks are seen opening higher on Friday after the S&P 500 index closed at a new record high for the third consecutive day overnight despite concerns about slowing consumer spending.

U.S. reports on import prices, retail sales, industrial production and consumer sentiment due later in the day may provide further clues about the direction of the world's largest economy.

Tech stocks could be in focus today after Applied Materials Inc., the largest American producer of chipmaking gear, issued disappointing sales and profit forecast, citing a slowdown in China.

Additionally, reports suggest that the Trump administration is considering taking a stake in Intel to back its delayed Ohio chip hub.

Investors also eye the summit between the U.S. and Russian presidents in Alaska, with U.S. President Donald Trump saying he believes his Russian counterpart is ready to make a deal to end the war in Ukraine.

Asian markets were mostly higher, though Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell more than 1 percent as China's retail sales and industrial output figures fell short of expectations in July. Elsewhere, Japan Q2 GDP beat forecasts, fueling BoJ rate hike bets.

The dollar index was a tad softer and oil prices dipped ahead of Alaska summit, while gold ticked up but poised for a weekly decline.

Overnight, U.S. stocks fluctuated before ending narrowly mixed as a much hotter-than-expected PPI inflation print dampened investor euphoria over a possible September rate cut.

Data showed producer prices rose 0.9 percent month-over-month in July compared to expectations of 0.2 percent.

On an annual basis, prices rose 3.3 percent, the most since February and up from an upwardly revised 2.4 percent in June.

"Core" producer prices, which exclude food, energy, and trade services, saw the largest increase in three years.

The S&P 500 inched up marginally to a new record closing high, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite and the Dow ended flat with negative bias.

European stocks closed at their highest level in more than two months on Thursday amid hopes the Trump-Putin summit might help end the war in Ukraine.

The pan European STOXX 600 gained 0.6 percent. The German DAX and France's CAC 40 both surged around 0.8 percent while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 inched up 0.1 percent.