European Stocks Head for Higher Open

European equity markets traded higher on Friday, with the STOXX 50 gaining 0.8% and the broader STOXX 600 advancing 0.5%, as investors digested economic data and awaited Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh’s speech at the Jackson Hole symposium for clues on the US interest-rate outlook. French lenders led the gains, with Societe Generale, BNP Paribas and Crédit Agricole rising 0.8%-1% after falling sharply in the previous session on concerns over France’s political and fiscal outlook ahead of next year’s presidential election. Meanwhile, data from France and Spain pointed to renewed price pressures, with EU-harmonized inflation reaching fresh multi-year highs, strengthening expectations that the ECB could resume rate hikes in September. Corporate news was relatively quiet. Strabag surged nearly 9% after raising its full-year guidance, while Bertelsmann gained 0.2% after upgrading its 2026 outlook.

European equity markets were set to open higher on Friday as investors awaited Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh’s speech at the annual Jackson Hole symposium later today for guidance on the outlook for US interest rates. Regional shares also tracked gains across global markets as Nvidia’s bullish sales forecast strengthened expectations for continued demand driven by artificial intelligence. In Europe, investors will assess inflation data from France and Spain, GDP figures from France, and unemployment data from Germany. Meanwhile, there are no major corporate earnings releases scheduled in Europe on Friday. In premarket trading, Euro Stoxx 50 and Stoxx 600 futures were up 0.3% and 0.2%, respectively.

European stocks closed sharply lower on Thursday amid sharp pressure from banks and industrial giants. The Euro STOXX 50 fell 0.75% to 6,422 and the STOXX Europe 600 fell 0.7% to 651.7. Banks sank sharply, paring gains from the week as concerns of more restrictive financial conditions retook the market's forefront, with ECB accounts showing that selected policymakers did not oppose a hike in the central bank's June meeting. UniCredit sank 3.2% and BNP Paribas fell nearly 5%, while Santander, ING, and BBVA dropped over 2%. Meanwhile, Safran and Airbus dropped over 1% each. On top of that, AI infrastructure stocks closed in the red despite the strong earnings results and projections from Nvidia, which prompted gains state-side. ASML and Siemens Energy both fell close to 1%.