European Shares Set To Decline On Amazon's Gloomy Outlook

(RTTNews) - European stocks may drift lower at open on Friday after Amazon reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings but its revenue outlook for the first quarter missed projections.

Much like several of its big tech peers and undeterred by DeepSeek's rise, the e-commerce and cloud services giant has announced plans to invest more than $100 billion in artificial intelligence (AI) this year.

Meanwhile, amid much uncertainty about the economic and rate outlook, investors also await the monthly U.S. jobs report as well as preliminary readings on consumer sentiment and inflation expectations in February for further direction.

The jobs report may show that U.S. employment climbed by 170,000 jobs in January after an increase of 256,000 jobs in December. The jobless rate is seen holding steady at 4.1 percent.

Asian stocks were mixed, with mainland Chinese and Hong Kong markets rising sharply as DeepSeek AI optimism lifted tech stocks.

Regional markets elsewhere were subdued as investors awaited U.S. President Donald Trump's next move on trade curbs ahead of China's tariff deadline next week.

The dollar held steady while gold hovered near record levels and headed for its sixth successive weekly gain on tariff concerns.

Oil prices were poised to decline for a third straight week, pressured by fears of a supply glut.

U.S. stocks ended mixed in choppy trading overnight as investors awaited Amazon's earnings results and the latest jobs report.

In economic news, initial jobless claims rose more than expected last week, while worker productivity growth slowed more than expected in the fourth quarter, driving up labor costs, separate reports revealed.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose half a percent and the S&P 500 added 0.4 percent to end higher for the third straight session as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reiterated his view on a lower path for 10-year yields under the Trump administration. The Dow dipped 0.3 percent.

European stocks hit a record high on Thursday as investors assessed a rate cut from the Bank of England and a flurry of earnings.

The pan European STOXX 600 rallied 1.2 percent. The German DAX and France's CAC 40 both surged by 1.5 percent while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 climbed 1.2 percent.