European markets opened in positive territory on Friday, setting up the region’s stocks for a weekly rise after one of the best trading sessions in four months on Wednesday.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was up 0.3% shortly after the opening bell, with most sectors and all major exchanges higher. Mining stocks led the gains, with the sector rising more than 1% after Bloomberg reported Glencore was in talks with Rio Tinto to explore the industry’s biggest-ever merger. The talks would no longer be active.
Glencore Shares were up about 2% as of 8:16 a.m. London time.
Further data released by Britain’s Office for National Statistics on Thursday showed the economy returned to growth in November, with gross domestic product up 0.1% on a monthly basis after two months of economic contraction . Although the data ended two months of economic recession in the United Kingdom, it remained below the 0.2% growth expected by economists polled by Reuters.
It was followed by more disappointing data on Friday, when the ONS estimated that UK retail sales in December fell by 0.3% on a monthly basis. Economists polled by Reuters expected a 0.4% increase in sales volumes compared to the previous month.
British data released this week fueled hopes that the Bank of England would resume interest rate cuts at its next monetary policy meeting in February. Traders are overwhelmingly pricing in a 25 basis point cut from the central bank at its next meeting, according to LSEG data.
Elsewhere in the region, the European Commission will finalize euro zone inflation figures on Friday. Preliminary data released earlier this month showed that annual inflation in the euro zone reached 2.4% in December, the third consecutive monthly increase in the euro zone.
Spain – one of Europe’s fastest-growing economies, according to the OECD – is expected to release its import and export figures on Friday morning.
In Asia, stocks were mixed overnight as investors reacted to China’s fourth-quarter GDP update that came in better than expected.
On Wall Street, stock futures edged higher, with indexes poised to finish the week higher despite some volatility in recent days.
— CNBC’s Lisa Kailai Han and Lee Ying Shan contributed to this update from European markets.
