European Shares May See Muted Gains Ahead Of US Jobs Data

European stocks may open on a steady note Friday, with trading later in the day likely to be impacted by reaction to the release of monthly U.S. jobs report.

The U.S. jobs report as well as next week’s inflation data may provide additional clues as to the path forward for Federal Reserve interest rates.

U.S. employment is expected to climb by 170,000 jobs in September after an increase of 187,000 jobs in August. The unemployment rate is expected to edge down to 3.7 percent from 3.8 percent.

San Francisco Fed president Mary Daly told the Economic Club of New York that the Fed may hold interest rates steady if inflation and the jobs market continue to cool.

Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said on Bloomberg’s Odd Lots podcast that all eyes right now are on getting inflation down toward the 2 percent inflation goal and at the same time averting a recession.

International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said that she sees increased chances of a “soft landing” for the global economy, despite high interest rates.

The European economic calendar for the day includes reports on French trade balance, German factory orders data and U.K. house prices.

Asian stocks traded mixed, with Hong Kong markets leading regional gains ahead of the reopening of Chinese markets next week after the Golden week holiday.

Investors also cheered news reports suggesting that the White House has started making plans for a face-to-face meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in San Francisco next month.

The dollar was seeing rangebound movement but remained on track for 12 straight weeks of gains.

Gold was little changed while oil prices were seeing marginal gains after two days of hefty losses on demand woes.

U.S. stocks ended marginally lower overnight as investors awaited the September employment report for clues on the economic and rate outlook.

Treasuries extended a pullback after data showed weekly jobless claims rose slightly last week.

European stocks ended mostly higher on Thursday despite a raft of weak data points.
The pan European STOXX 600 gained 0.3 percent. The German DAX slipped 0.2 percent, while France’s CAC 40 edged up marginally and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 rose half a percent.

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