European Shares Seen Up As Apple Earnings Beat Expectations

(RTTNews) - European stocks are likely to open higher on Friday after Apple's fiscal second-quarter earnings beat market expectations.

The Cupertino-based tech giant has achieved a record revenue of $94.8 billion and a profit of $24 billion in the March quarter.

Asian markets traded mixed as worries about the health of U.S. banks offset investor optimism about a likely Fed rate hike pause in June.

The dollar eased and gold hovered around record highs after reports that U.S. authorities are probing Goldman Sachs involvement and its link with Silicon Valley Bank collapse.

Oil prices rose about 1 percent in Asian trading after a private gauge of China's service sector declined in April but still stayed in expansion territory.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has cut the official selling price for its Arab Light crude oil to Asia after futures slumped on concerns about the health of the global economy.

The monthly U.S. jobs report is likely to be in the spotlight today, with economists expecting employment to increase by 179,000 jobs in April after an increase of 236,000 jobs in March.

U.S. stocks fell for a fourth day running overnight on bank contagion worries after PacWest confirmed that it is reviewing strategic options, including a potential sale. Mixed signals from the Fed on rate hike path also weighed on markets.

On the economic front, weekly jobless claims rose along with labor costs while the trade deficit narrowed in March.

The Dow gave up 0.9 percent to turn slightly negative for 2023 while the S&P 500 declined 0.7 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite eased half a percent.

European stocks closed lower on Thursday after the European Central Bank slowed the pace of its interest-rate increases but not hinted at a pause.

The pan European STOXX 600 dropped half a percent. The German DAX dipped half a percent, France's CAC 40 shed 0.9 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE tumbled 1.1 percent.