© Reuters.
By Peter Nurse
Investing.com – European stock markets traded in a subdued fashion Friday after mixed German economic data, as investors await key Eurozone inflation ahead of the release of the widely-watched U.S. monthly jobs report.
At 03:45 ET (08:45 GMT), the in Germany traded 0.2% lower, while the in France traded flat and the in the U.K. climbed 0.2%.
The main European stock indices received a boost earlier this week from a bigger-than-expected drop in the speed of rises, raising hopes that the European Central Bank could rein in its aggressive hikes reasonably quickly.
This brings the release of data later in the session firmly into focus.
The December CPI figure is expected to come in at 9.7% on an annual basis, only a small reduction from the 10.1% growth the prior month, but there is a degree of confidence within the markets that there could be a positive surprise with a bigger drop.
Data released earlier Friday showed that , the most forward-looking of the hard data, fell by 5.3% from October, as businesses cut back on orders for big-ticket items in particular.
The news from the country’s consumer sector was somewhat better, as volumes rose by 1.1% in November, a little more than expected, after a long-awaited government package aimed at cushioning the blow of surging energy prices led households to relax a little. Even so, sales were still down 5.9%, adjusted for inflation, from a year earlier.
The European data can set the stage for the U.S. jobs report later in the session, with expected to have risen 200,000 in December, while the is seen staying at a healthy 3.7%.
Such healthy numbers could again stymie bets that an end to rate rises is coming anytime soon.
In the corporate sector, Sodexo (EPA:) stock fell 3.5% after the French catering and food services group confirmed its guidance for the year 2023 even as it beat expectations for its first-quarter .
Shell (LON:) stock rose 1.3% after the energy giant said it would take a $2 billion tax hit in the fourth quarter as its integrated gas trading soared.
Oil prices rose Friday after the release of relatively bullish U.S. inventories data for last week, but the market remained on track for a large weekly loss as demand concerns continue to weigh.
Data from the Energy Information Administration, released Thursday, showed that rose by 1.7 million barrels last week, but the bulk of this growth was driven by a nearly 3 million barrel release from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
Additionally, distillate inventories, which include diesel and , dropped more than expected, and gasoline stocks fell 346,000 barrels, suggesting demand remained strong in the U.S. during the festive period.
By 03:45 ET, futures traded 0.2% higher at $73.78 a barrel, while the contract rose 0.1% to $78.77.
That said, both crude contracts were still set to lose around 7% this week on concerns a global recession at the start of 2023 will severely hit demand.
Additionally, rose 0.1% to $1,842.05/oz, while traded 0.1% lower at 1.0518.
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