Europe stocks set to rise as investors look ahead to U.S.-China trade talks in Switzerland
The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index is expected to open higher by 0.3%, according to futures data from FactSet. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 is also set to rise by 0.3%, while Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 may open higher by 0.2%.
Investors will be digesting earnings updates from German lender Commerzbank and Italy's Mediobanca , both acquisition targets for UniCredit . Portugal's utility company EDP is also revealing its quarterly results after a major power outage earlier this month.
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.
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%.
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.
Exports jumped 8.1% last month in U.S. dollar terms from a year earlier, according to data released by customs authority Friday, sharply beating with Reuters' poll estimates of a 1.9% rise.
Imports slumped by 0.2% in April from a year earlier, compared with the economists' expectations of a 5.9% drop.
Read the full story here.
—Anniek Bao
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