European markets opened mixed on Friday, with investors keeping a close eye on economic data and continued turmoil in UK debt markets.
IG expects the FTSE 100 to open 63 points higher at 8,314 points, while Germany’s DAX is expected to fall 8 points to open at 20,321.7 points. IG pointed out that France’s CAC 40 index will open up 38 points to 7,490.5 points.
Traders in the region are watching developments in U.K. markets, with yields on some gilts (British government bonds) hitting their highest levels in decades this week.
After yield 30-year-old gilt In recent days, U.S. Treasury yields have soared to their highest levels since the late 1990s, and the 10-year British government bond yield hit its highest level since the 2008 financial crisis on Thursday. British 10-year gilt return Not much changed Friday morning.
at the same time, GBP It fell to its lowest in more than a year against the dollar at 7:25 a.m. London time, trading at $1.2284.
Concerns are growing over the shape of the UK economy, with investors and businesses noting that new fiscal policy will lead to higher taxes and business costs, as well as weak economic data and sticky inflation in the UK.
Some of Europe’s largest economies are due to release economic data on Friday. France and Spain will release industrial production data for November, while Italy will release retail sales data.
Asian stocks were mostly lower overnight as investors focused on Japanese data releases and reports that the People’s Bank of China would suspend purchases of government bonds.
Wall Street fell on Friday as investors awaited the release of nonfarm payrolls data for December, while economists polled by Reuters expected job openings to slow down from last month.
— CNBC’s Lim Hui Jie and Sean Conlon contributed to this story on European markets.
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