European Shares Seen Tad Lower At Open

(RTTNews) - European stocks are seen opening flat to slightly lower on Friday as a busy week for central bank meetings and key economic releases draws to an end.

U.S. stock futures ticked higher after parcel delivery giant FedEx Corp. reinstated its full-year profit outlook and the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the discussions that President Trump's team is weighing a plan to spur the construction of factories and other infrastructure in a bid to jump-start the American manufacturing sector.

Asian markets were mixed while the yen strengthened after the Bank of Japan kept interest rates steady and announced that it will begin offloading exchange-traded funds.

Investors now await a phone call between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping later in the day that could help determine the fate of TikTok and the future of U.S.-China relations.

On the economic front, U.K. retail sales data and France's monthly business survey results may garner some attention later in the day.

The dollar was flat while Treasury yields continued to rise after Thursday's data showed U.S. jobless claims had dropped by the most in nearly four years, suggesting the U.S. economy remains resilient and is unlikely to spiral into a recession.

Gold ticked higher but oil prices traded lower as traders waited to see what additional sanctions are placed on Russian oil.

Overnight, U.S. stocks notched fresh record highs as Nvidia agreed to invest $5 billion in Intel Corp and data showed fewer Americans filed new applications for unemployment benefits last week.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 0.9 percent, the S&P 500 added half a percent and the Dow rose 0.3 percent, a day after the Fed delivered its first interest-rate cut since December 2024 and signaled two more rate cuts in 2025.

European stocks closed higher on Thursday following Federal Reserve and Bank of England rate decisions.

The pan European STOXX 600 advanced 0.8 percent. The German DAX surged 1.4 percent, France's CAC 40 climbed 0.9 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 edged up 0.2 percent.