European markets were on track to pull back when trading begins Friday amid a rocky start to 2025 for stocks around the world.
The U.K.’s FTSE 100 was set to dip by around eight points to 8,243, Germany’s DAX was on track to fall by five points to 19,988 and the French CAC 40 was on course to shed 21 points to 7,369. Italy’s FTSE MIB was last set to fall around 107 points to 34,430.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 had closed higher on Thursday after a volatile first trading session of the year.
Investors weighed regional and global political uncertainty that could affect markets and the economy, including political instability in France, upcoming elections in Germany and potential tariffs under U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.
On the data front in Europe on Friday, investors will be watching out for the latest inflation figures from Turkey and Poland, as well as unemployment reports out of Germany and Spain and mortgage data from the U.K.
U.S. futures were last little changed, after stocks stateside also had a choppy start to 2025 on Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite all ended the day lower. For the latter two, that marked the fifth consecutive session of declining, their longest losing streaks since April.
Asia-Pacific markets were mixed overnight, with Chinese stocks extending declines as investors assessed policy signals from Beijing, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index and South Korean markets were both in positive territory.