European Shares Likely To Open On Mixed Note

(RTTNews) - European stocks are seen opening on a mixed note Friday after scoring big gains in the previous session.

A cautious undertone may prevail as strong economic data helped quell fears of a looming U.S. recession but prompted traders to lower their expectations of aggressive Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts this year.

The University of Michigan's preliminary report on U.S. consumer sentiment for August may attract attention later today, as it includes a reading on consumers' inflation expectations.

The European economic calendar remains light, with U.K. retail sales data and Eurozone trade balance figures likely to garner some attention.

Asian markets traded higher, with Hong Kong, South Korea and Japan leading the surge on the back of gains in the technology sector.

The dollar steadied against major currencies and gold dipped slightly as traders pared rate cut bets.

Oil edged lower but was set for a weekly gain on easing fears of a potential recession in the top oil consuming nation.

U.S. stocks rose sharply overnight while two-year Treasury yields rose by the most in four months as strong retail sales data and lower-than-expected weekly jobless claims helped ease fears of a looming recession. Strong earnings reports from retailer Walmart and tech giant Cisco also boosted investor sentiment.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite soared 2.3 percent and the S&P 500 rallied 1.6 percent to post their best six-day gain since November 2022. The Dow gained 1.4 percent to end higher for the fifth time in the last six trading sessions.

European stocks rose for a third straight session on Thursday as upbeat data raised hopes of a soft landing for the world's largest economy.

The pan European STOXX 600 advanced 1.2 percent. The German DAX surged 1.7 percent, France's CAC 40 climbed 1.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 added 0.8 percent.