European Shares Likely To Drift Lower On Tariff Worries

(RTTNews) - European stocks are seen opening broadly lower on Friday despite Apple posting a record revenue and Intel beating earnings and revenue expectations.

Tariff worries may keep investors on the sidelines after U.S. President Donald Trump announced that 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico are coming on Saturday, although crude flows may be exempted from the levies.

He also pledged to move forward with 10 percent import duties on China and threatened 100 percent tariffs on BRICS nations over dollar replacement moves.

The European Union has started its "strategic dialogue" with key automotive stakeholders in Brussels and promised an "action plan" to help support the industry that is under threat from transition to carbon neutrality, Chinese competition and tariff threats.

Asian markets were broadly higher, though Seoul stocks tumbled amid a sell-off in tech shares like Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix on concerns over China's growing AI capabilities.

Hong Kong and Chinese markets remain closed for the Lunar New Year holiday.

The dollar gained due to risk-off sentiment and ahead of a U.S. Commerce Department report on personal income and spending due later in the day, which includes readings on consumer price inflation preferred by the Federal Reserve.

Closer home, flash consumer prices, retail sales and unemployment figures from Germany and house price data from the U.K. are awaited later in the day.

Treasuries held steady after ending Thursday's session little changed.

Gold has reached a new record level at $2,800 per ounce after the release of a weaker U.S. GDP print.

Oil prices edged higher as investors await OPEC's response to Trump's recent call for increased production.

U.S. stocks fluctuated before ending higher overnight as investors reacted to broadly positive earnings from tech companies, upbeat comments from Tesla and Trump's renewed tariff threats.

In economic news, U.S. GDP grew by 2.3 percent in Q4 2024 after expanding by 3.1 percent in Q3, while jobless claims declined more than expected last week, separate reports showed.

The Dow edged up by 0.4 percent, nearing the record closing high set in early December. The S&P 500 gained half a percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 0.3 percent.

European stocks closed higher on Thursday as the ECB delivered a widely expected 25-basis point interest-rate cut and guided for a further reduction in March due to concerns about economic growth.

The pan European STOXX 600 jumped 0.9 percent. The German DAX rose 0.4 percent, France's CAC 40 climbed 0.9 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 rallied 1 percent.