European equities were mixed in early trade on Friday, with major indexes struggling to gain momentum.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 was flat by 8:25 a.m. in London (3:25 a.m. ET), with sectors mixed.
Regional shares ended Thursday’s session higher, putting the Stoxx 600 index on course to end the week unchanged.
U.S. President Donald Trump, who made a state visit to the U.K. this week, is expected to speak with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in a call on Friday. It comes after U.S. and Chinese negotiators reached a framework deal on TikTok’s U.S. business at talks in Madrid, Spain, this week.
Monetary policy has remained in focus this week, with the Federal Reserve cutting its key interest rate on Wednesday and the Bank of England holding rates steady the following day. Norway and Canada’s central banks also trimmed their core interest rates this week.
Traders will also be watching German PPI data, a U.K. retail sales print and a French business confidence update on Friday.
In the U.K., the latest data out Friday showed that government borrowing surged in recent months, with public sector rising by £11.4 billion ($15.4 billion) more than projected between April and August. It marked the second-highest public sector borrowing for that period since records began in 1993, with only 2020 — the height of the Covid-19 pandemic — notching a higher April to August borrowing bill.
U.K. government borrowing costs rose in the wake of the data release, with the yield on longer-maturity 20 and 30-year gilts adding 4 and 5 basis points, respectively.
Overnight in Asia, stocks traded mostly higher, with investors reacting to the Bank of Japan making no changes to interest rates. On Wall Street, U.S. stock futures were flat after the major averages hit fresh all-time highs on Thursday.
