Europe markets set for mixed open as investors look to economic data, weigh tech sector
LONDON — European markets were slightly higher Friday as investors weighed the region's economic outlook and assessed fresh data.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 was 0.17% higher at around 9:25 a.m. London time, with most sectors and major bourses in positive territory.
Autos stocks led the gains, up 1.6%, with chemicals and household goods stocks both trading around 1.5% higher.
Preliminary data published Friday showed France's harmonized inflation rate fell sharply in September.
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Harmonized consumer prices came in at 1.5% in September, down from 2.2% in August, according to the French statistics office Insee. The reading was weaker than economists surveyed by Reuters had expected, and stands significantly below the European Central Bank's 2% inflation target.
The euro initially fell to a session low of $1.1143 on the news. It was last seen trading at $1.1126, down around 0.45%.
Looking at individual stock moves, shares of Italian fashion group Moncler surged nearly 10% to hit the top of the European benchmark. It comes after French luxury giant LVMH struck a deal to invest in Double R, an investment vehicle controlled by Moncler, Reuters reported. Shares of LVMH rose 2.8% on the news.
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Meanwhile, Spanish bank Banco Sabadell tumbled 5% to hit the bottom of the Stoxx 600. The lender is the subject of a hostile takeover bid from larger Spanish bank, BBVA.
Speaking to CNBC's Charlotte Reed on Thursday, Banco Sabadell CEO César González-Bueno said BBVA's proposal is "very volatile" and offers a "completely insufficient" price. Earlier in the week, BBVA CEO Onur Genç told CNBC that the takeover was "moving according to plan."
European stocks had closed 1.25% higher on Thursday, tracking gains in Asia-Pacific markets, which were buoyed by China's announcement of stimulus measures earlier in the week.
Chinese markets clocked their best week in almost 16 years as the mainland's CSI 300 rallied 15.7% this week. The last time the index saw a bigger weekly gain was the week ending Nov. 14, 2008.
It comes after the People's Bank of China said it was cutting its seven-day reverse repo rate to 1.5%, the second reduction in around three months, and slashed the reserve requirement ratio of financial institutions by 0.5 percentage points.
Meanwhile in the U.S., attention turned to the release of August's personal consumption expenditures price index which is slated for Friday. The PCE is the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge. Economists are expecting headline PCE to have risen 2.3% on an annual basis and 0.1% from the previous month.
U.S. stock futures were last little changed ahead of the key data release.
— CNBC's Lim Hui Jie contributed to this report.
