European Shares Seen Tad Higher At Open As China's Exports Rise

(RTTNews) - European stocks may open a tad higher on Friday as investors react to mixed economic data from China and await earnings from large U.S. banks later in the day for direction.

China's exports growth for December beat expectations in U.S. dollar terms, while imports rose slightly less than estimated.

China inflation data proved to be a mixed bag, with the CPI recording a softer fall than expected in the month while PPI remained in contraction for a fifteenth consecutive month, keeping alive expectations for more policy easing measures.

Geopolitical tensions also remained on investor's radar after Iran seized an oil tanker off the coast of Oman, and the U.S. and U.K. launched large-scale retaliatory strikes against Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen.

Elsewhere, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet a senior Chinese official in Washington today on the eve of Taiwan's presidential and parliamentary elections.

Asian markets traded mixed, with Japan's Nikkei extending its record-breaking rally as the yen hovered near one-month lows on dovish BOJ bets.

The dollar showed little strength ahead of U.S. producer price inflation data due later in the day, while oil prices jumped nearly 2 percent on fears of increased supply disruptions.

Gold also traded higher amid fears of further escalation in the Middle East conflict.

U.S. stocks climbed well off their worst levels of the day to end narrowly mixed overnight as hotter-than-expected inflation data dented rate cut hopes.

The CPI reading accelerated to 3.4 percent year-on-year in December from 3.1 percent the previous month while the core inflation rate slowed to 3.9 percent from 4.0 percent.

Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester said in an interview that it was premature to consider cutting interest rates as soon as March.

Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin said that the latest data did little to clarify the path of inflation.

European stocks erased earlier gains to end notably lower on Thursday. The pan European STOXX 600 gave up 0.8 percent.

The German DAX shed 0.9 percent, France's CAC 40 dropped half a percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 declined 1 percent.