European Shares Seen Up As China Steps Up Stimulus

(RTTNews) - European stocks are seen opening on a positive note Friday as China rolled out more measures to help its ailing economy.

After recent government measures to cut mortgage costs, five of China's biggest banks today cut interest rates on a range of deposits.

The People's Bank of China said it would cut foreign exchange reserve requirement ratio for financial institutions in a bid to boost liquidity and shore up the yuan.

Meanwhile, a private survey showed Chinese factory activity unexpectedly expanded in August, raising optimism that the worst of factory slump in Asia's largest economy may be over.

Asian markets traded mixed, with trading in Hong Kong suspended due to typhoon Saola.

The dollar traded weak and was set for a weekly loss as investors await U.S. employment data due later in the day for clues on the Fed's monetary policy outlook.

Economists expect U.S. employment to increase by 170,000 jobs in August after an increase of 187,000 jobs in July. The unemployment rate is expected to remain at 3.5 percent.

Manufacturing surveys from the U.S. and a host of countries in the euro zone may also investor attraction later in the day.

On Thursday, Fed Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic said that U.S. monetary policy is already tight enough to bring inflation back down to 2 percent over a "reasonable" period.

Oil prices were set for a weekly gain after Russia signaled that it would extend export curbs.

Gold rose and was on course for a second straight weekly gain on hopes of less-aggressive Fed.

U.S. stocks ended mixed overnight and Treasury yields fell amid growing bets that the Fed will leave interest rates unchanged at its September meeting.

Jobless claims fell slightly last week, and consumer spending accelerated in July while the Fed's preferred gauge of inflation stayed high in July but matched estimates, various reports showed.

The Dow dipped half a percent and the S&P 500 slid 0.2 percent. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite edged up 0.1 percent to extend gains for a fifth consecutive session but still suffered its worst monthly loss of 2023.

European stocks ended mostly lower on Thursday after cautious comments by a leading ECB hawk.

Eurozone inflation stagnated in August while German retail sales fell unexpectedly in July, sharpening the dilemma for policymakers.

The pan-European STOXX 600 eased 0.2 percent. The German DAX edged up 0.4 percent while France's CAC 40 shed 0.7 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 dropped half a percent.