European stocks are set to slightly open higher Friday morning, however setting a cautious tone, after the U.S. hiked duties on $200 billion of Chinese products Thursday.
The FTSE 100 is seen 25 points higher than its Thursday close, opening around 7,232. Meanwhile the CAC is expected to open around 17 points higher at 5,330, while the DAX is poised to start up around 33 points at 12,006, according to IG.
Thursday saw a market selloff as the deadline for an agreement between the U.S and China approached, after U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that China “broke the deal”.
Upon the passing of the midnight ET deadline, Washington increased tariffs on Chinese goods from 10% to 25%. China immediately said it would retaliate, though did not specify how as yet.
Stocks in Asia were tepid in Friday trade as the increase kicked in, with mainland Chinese shares higher by the end of the morning session, before the implementation of new tariffs. Japanese stocks fell marginally in afternoon trade, while South Korean and Hong Kong indexes were both slightly higher.
On Wall Street, the Dow fell 138 points, while the S&P 500 dropped for a fourth consecutive day ahead of the looming trade deadline.
Back in Europe, 27 European Union leaders agreed to prioritize fighting climate change, safeguarding democracy and finding a modern model for growth as they met to discuss the future course of the bloc in Thursday talks.
Meanwhile, reports Thursday night revealed seven banks faced EU antitrust fines for rigging the multi-trillion dollar foreign exchange market. These included Barclays, Citigroup, HSBC and J.P. Morgan.
In corporate news, Spanish multinational telecommunications company Telefonica is set to report first-quarter earnings Friday.
