European Shares To Open Mixed As Worries Over Rates Swirl

(RTTNews) - European stocks are seen opening mixed in lackluster trade on Friday as investors fret about further interest-rate hikes and an impending recession.

Recession worries are exacerbated by weak U.S. data and hawkish messages from Fed officials.

Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker said on Thursday that "some additional tightening may be needed to ensure policy is restrictive enough" to support the Fed's dual mandate of keeping both unemployment and inflation low.

Traders currently expect a 25-basis points rate hike by the Fed in May, no rate hike in June and a significant chance of a rate cut in July, depending on incoming data and financial developments.

Asian stocks fell for a third day running, with Chinese and Hong Kong markets leading regional losses on doubts about China's post-COVID recovery.

The dollar index was lower alongside U.S. yields after weak U.S. data released overnight pointed to a slowing economy.

Investors also fretted about negotiations in Washington to raise the U.S. government debt ceiling.

Gold traded weak but held above $2,000 per ounce. Oil prices were little changed after two days of heavy losses on fears that a global recession could dent fuel demand.

U.S. stocks ended firmly in the red overnight as investors reacted to weak economic data and a mixed bag of earnings from the likes of Tesla, AT&T, American Express and IBM.

Weekly jobless claims surged last week, manufacturing activity in the mid-Atlantic region plunged to its lowest level in 3 years in April and existing home sales fell in March, adding to recession worries.

The Dow slid 0.3 percent, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite shed 0.8 percent and the S&P 500 eased 0.6 percent.

European stocks closed mostly lower on Thursday amid concerns about the outlook for economic and earnings growth.

The pan European STOXX 600 dipped 0.2 percent. The German DAX declined 0.6 percent and France's CAC 40 slipped 0.1 percent while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 finished marginally higher.