European stocks opened lower on Friday as investors navigated a complex mix of signals, weighing a cautious stance from the European Central Bank against strong earnings from US tech giants and a landmark trade truce between Washington and Beijing.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 was trading approximately 0.2% lower shortly after the opening bell, reflecting a prevailing mood of uncertainty at the end of a busy week for global markets.
The main drivers for the region were centered in Europe.
On Thursday, the European Central Bank held its key deposit facility rate steady at 2% for the third consecutive meeting, providing stability but offering no new stimulus to the market.
In a more positive development, flash data from Eurostat revealed that the euro zone economy grew by a better-than-expected 0.2% in the third quarter, narrowly beating the 0.1% forecast.
However, the modest upside surprise was not enough to spark a broad market rally.
US tech giants provide an upbeat signal
While European sentiment was subdued, a powerful positive cue came from the US after the market close on Thursday.
Amazon shares soared more than 13% in after-hours trading after the company reported that its cloud computing revenue surged 20% in the third quarter, crushing Wall Street estimates.
Apple also posted strong fiscal fourth-quarter results, lifting its shares by about 3%.
The earnings calendar is quieter on Friday, but investors will be monitoring results from US oil majors Chevron and Exxon Mobil later in the day.
Geopolitics, gold, and oil in focus
Globally, markets continued to assess the outcome of the high-stakes meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Trump said he had reached a one-year agreement with Xi on rare earths and other critical minerals, and that Washington will cut fentanyl-related tariffs on Beijing to 10% after their meeting in South Korea.
In the commodities space, oil is on track for its third consecutive monthly decline, with Brent crude futures trading down 0.56% to $60.24 a barrel.
Gold also showed signs of cooling, falling below the key $4,000 an ounce mark on Thursday before recovering to trade around $4,025.10 an ounce.
Asian markets find firmer footing
Overnight, the mood in Asia-Pacific markets was more optimistic.
Japanese stocks led gains as investors in the region reacted positively to the de-escalation in the US-China trade dispute.
Adding to the tech narrative, Korean semiconductor giant Samsung announced plans to purchase and deploy a cluster of 50,000 Nvidia GPUs to enhance its chip manufacturing capabilities, signaling continued heavy investment in the sector.
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