European Shares Seen Flat To Higher At Open

(RTTNews) - European stocks look set to open flat to slightly higher on Friday ahead of the New Year's weekend.

Asian markets traded mostly lower but were on course to snap a two-year losing streak on bets that the U.S. Federal Reserve will cut interest rates aggressively next year.

The MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan hovered near a five-month high and was set for a 5 percent annual gain after two years of declines.

The dollar looked set to end 2003 with a 2 percent loss after two years of strong gains.

Oil prices are set to end the year 10 percent lower as demand concerns outweigh the risks to supply from the Middle East conflict.

The year 2023 has been a rollercoaster ride for precious metals, especially gold.

With gains of approximately 13-14 percent year-to-date, non-yielding bullion is poised for its strongest annual performance in three years.

U.K. Nationwide house price data and a U.S. report on Chicago-area business activity may attract some attention later in the day.

U.S. stocks ended narrowly mixed overnight while benchmark Treasury yields and the dollar edged up from five-month lows on the penultimate trading day of 2023.

In economic releases, the number of Americans filing initial claims for unemployment benefits rose more than expected last week, while November pending home sales were unchanged.

The Dow inched up 0.1 percent to hit a new record closing high and the S&P finished marginally higher while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite ended flat with a negative bias.

European stocks slipped on Thursday after recent gains on dovish Fed bets. The pan European STOXX 600 eased 0.1 percent.

The German DAX slipped 0.2 percent, France's CAC 40 dropped half a percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 finished marginally lower.