European Shares To Open Lower Ahead Of German Elections

(RTTNews) - European stocks are seen opening lower on Friday as investors look forward to Sunday's federal elections in Germany.

A recent survey revealed that 45 percent of Germans considered peace and security to be the most important issue for them.

Asian markets traded mixed, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rallying nearly 3 percent after Alibaba Group Holding announced its fastest pace of revenue growth in more than a year.

The dollar nursed broad losses and was set for its third weekly drop in a row despite heightened uncertainty around trade and geopolitics.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky needs to return to the negotiating table and strike a deal on U.S. access to Ukraine's critical minerals, White House national security adviser Mike Waltz has said at a white House briefing.

Waltz also said the White House was "very frustrated" with Zelensky after he levelled "unacceptable" insults at President Donald Trump earlier this week.

The comments overshadowed a meeting in Kyiv between Zelensky and Keith Kellogg, the U.S. chief envoy to Ukraine.

Government bond yields were subdued after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the Trump administration had no plans to increase long-dated debt sales.

The Japanese yen fell from a 2-1/2 month high in a likely technical correction while China's yuan weakened despite the People's Bank of China pledging to bolster the currency in the face of a stronger U.S. dollar.

Gold fell on profit taking after hitting a fresh record high. Oil headed for its biggest weekly gain since early January on increasing supply uncertainty.

Trading later in the day may be impacted by reaction to the release of the preliminary S&P global manufacturing and services PMIs, U.S. existing home sales data and a revised reading on U.S. consumer sentiment. In addition, the Fed's Jefferson is due to speak.

U.S. stocks ended firmly in the red overnight as Walmart's fiscal 2026 guidance missed analyst expectations and big bank stocks fell sharply amid concerns about the outlook for growth, inflation and interest rates.

In economic news, there was a slight increase in jobless claims last week, while manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia region expanded at a much slower pace in February, separate set of data revealed.

The S&P 500 dropped 0.4 percent, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gave up half a percent and the narrower Dow lost 1 percent.

European stocks fell on Thursday amid mixed corporate earnings and uncertainty around peace negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.

The pan European STOXX 600 eased 0.2 percent. The German DAX dipped half a percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 shed 0.6 percent while France's CAC 40 edged up by 0.2 percent.