By Peter Nurse
Investing.com - European stock markets are set to open mixed Friday, with optimism about the economic recovery having to compete with an ever-rising number of Covid-19 cases for direction.
At 2:05 AM ET (0605 GMT), the DAX futures contract in Germany traded 0.1% lower. France's CAC 40 futures were up 1.2%, while the FTSE 100 futures contract in the U.K. rose 0.8%.
"We're stuck in a bit of a range. There's a degree of optimism that any second wave will be offset by stimulus ... but if we have to go back to a renewed lockdown then it's a different story, and markets face a lot more downside risk," Shane Oliver, chief economist at AMP (OTC:AMLTF) Capital in Sydney ,told Reuters.
This follows a record number of new coronavirus cases throughout the U.S., the world’s economic driver, with state health departments reporting a total of over 37,000 new cases on Thursday. Texas was forced to pause its re-opening, with Houston’s intensive-care wards reaching capacity.
Economic data has tended to point to a recovery in the U.S., with Thursday offering up a small drop in jobless claims and a healthy rise in durable goods orders. Markets will now be looking for reassurance from European confidence surveys and U.S. spending data due later Friday.
In corporate news, the banking sector will be in focus after the Federal Reserve announced Thursday they will ease some capital requirements that ought to free up cash for lending, but at the same time instructed them to limit dividends and suspend share buybacks.
Additionally, Germany's Vonovia has acquired a 2.6% stake in Vesteda, a Dutch residential investor, its first step into the Dutch residential property market.
Oil prices rose Friday, helped by signs of fuel demand recovering globally, with traders tending to overlook the increase in coronavirus infections in many U.S. states and the recent build in inventories which suggest a revival in U.S. crude production.
At 2:05 AM ET, U.S. crude futures traded 1.2% higher at $39.16 a barrel. The international benchmark Brent contract rose 1.3% to $41.58.
Elsewhere, gold futures fell 0.1% to $1,768.15/oz, while EUR/USD traded at 1.1216, flat on the day.