European stocks had a positive start to Friday’s trading session, after the U.K. and U.S. confirmed a trade agreement and as investors looked ahead to U.S.-China trade negotiations set to begin this weekend.
The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index was 0.43% higher by 1:30 p.m. in London. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 gained 0.33%, while Germany’s DAX was up 0.7% after touching a record high during morning trade
On Thursday, most major European indexes closed higher. However, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 bucked the trend to tumble 0.32% after snapping its record winning streak on Wednesday.
Over the coming weekend, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer are set to meet the top Chinese officials in Switzerland for talks on economic and trade issues. Bessent previously said the meeting was about “de-escalation, not … the big trade deal.”
China and the U.S. are currently embroiled in a trade war, after they slapped tariffs of well above 100% on each other.
President Donald Trump endorsed cutting the tariff rate on China before weekend talks, but still leaving it a pretty severe level.
Asia-Pacific markets were mixed Friday as investors parsed China’s April trade data.
China’s exports surged in April even as businesses bore the brunt of U.S. tariffs that kicked into higher gear last month, while imports narrowed declines as Beijing stepped up stimulus.
On Wall Street, futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 52 points, or 0.1%. Nasdaq 100 futures slipped 0.08%, while S&P 500 futures were off about 0.1%.
Source: CNBC