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Autos led loses, down 1.2 percent, as Germany’s Mercedes Benz dipped 2 percent after narrowing its annual profit margin forecast. Autos firms are reporting a range of struggles in their latest results, with Stellantis on Thursday recording a 48 percent decline in first half net profit on weaker U.S. sales.
European equities have closed lower for the last two sessions amid a sharp downturn in technology stocks, with Wall Street’s tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite down more than 3 percent this week. Overall, Stoxx losses have eased from last week, when the regional index recorded its worst performance since October.
The biggest item on the data front Friday is the U.S. personal consumption expenditures price index, due at 8:30 a.m. ET, as investors seek more support for high expectations for a September rate cut. Economists polled by Dow Jones expect the headline figure to come in at 2.5 percent annually and 0.1 percent monthly.
Asia-Pacific markets largely rebounded Friday, as Tokyo’s headline inflation slowed slightly to 2.2 percent in July from 2.3 percent in May. U.S. stock futures were higher in the early hours.
Albania News Agency
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