© Reuters.
Investing.com – European stock markets traded higher on Friday, benefiting from global optimism that a U.S. debt default will be averted.
As of 03:20 ET (07:20 GMT), the index in Germany was trading up 0.3%, while the in the UK climbed 0.3% and the in France rose 0.4%.
These gains follow the indices and closed at their highest levels since August 2022 on Wall Street, and Japan surging to its highest level since 1990.
Senior Republican Congressman Kevin McCarthy said on Thursday he was confident a deal to lift the US debt ceiling, and thus prevent the country from defaulting, could be reached in the near future.
Friday was a relatively quiet day in terms of corporate earnings, but group of blacksmiths (LON:) The stock rose 0.8% after the British engineering group raised its 2023 revenue forecast after reporting strong third-quarter results.
The first quarter was relatively strong for a significant number of large European companies. So far, about half of companies have reported first-quarter results, and two-thirds of them beat estimates.
However, more headwinds are likely to lie ahead as cash-strapped consumers limit their spending and relatively robust first-quarter corporate margins come under pressure.
Higher interest rates at the start of the month and further hikes look likely, with the ECB vice president saying on Thursday he was particularly concerned about accelerating inflation in service industries.
The German rose 0.3% in April, data showed earlier on Friday, an annual rise of 4.1%, more than double the level of inflation targeted by the ECB.
Investors are also likely to keep an eye on developments at the G7 meeting in Japan, which continues this weekend. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to appear in person and will likely ask members to increase pressure on Russia by announcing additional sanctions to punish Moscow’s aggression.
Oil prices rose on Friday as traders took advantage of optimism surrounding the potential raising of the US debt ceiling to buy into heavily discounted markets.
The crude market is poised to add around 3% this week, the biggest weekly gain since early April, snapping a four-week losing streak.
However, the immediate outlook remains bleak, with strong inflation data pointing to further interest rate hikes from global central banks and weak economic data from China, the world’s largest crude importer, continuing to weaken. ’emerge.
As of 3:20 a.m. ET, futures were trading up 0.9% at $72.47 a barrel, while the contract climbed 0.9% to $76.53.
Additionally, it was up 0.4% at $1,968.15 an ounce as it traded up 0.1% at 1.0784.