MARKET WRAPS
Watch For:
EU industrial production, trade; Germany annual GDP; France CPI; UK industrial production, trade, index of services, GDP monthly estimates; trading updates from Sberbank, Taylor Wimpey
Opening Call:
Stock futures point to slight declines in Europe on Friday. In Asia, stock benchmarks were mixed; Treasury yields were mostly higher; the dollar gained; oil slipped and gold advanced.
Equities:
European stocks may face a muted open on Friday, after rallying in closing trade the previous day on softer U.S. December CPI data.
The latest U.S. inflation report showed cooling price pressures for the sixth consecutive month, likely keeping the Federal Reserve on track to slow its pace of interest-rate increases.
However, market analysts said some traders had been hoping to see a more significant decline, after inflation came in lower than economists had expected during the prior two months.
