Europe: Equities mostly ahead at open

[LONDON] Europe's main stock markets mostly rose in opening deals on Friday, with London's benchmark FTSE 100 index up 0.1 per cent at 7,519.31 points.

In the eurozone, the Paris CAC 40 added 0.2 per cent to 5,589.68 points, but Frankfurt's DAX 30 slipped 0.1 per cent to 12,318.94 compared with the closing level on Thursday.

Markets are on course for a broadly upbeat end to the week after Federal Reserve boss Jerome Powell's congressional testimony all but flicked the switch on a US interest rate cut at the end of the month.

A second day of testimony Thursday essentially reiterated his point.

His comments, which highlighted economic headwinds from the trade war and slowing global growth, sparked a rally on world markets.

"It may be a relatively quiet end to the week as traders digest the last two days of Powell's testimony and US data and weigh up the prospects for interest rates this year," noted Oanda analyst Craig Erlam on Friday.

Asian equities mostly rose Friday but gains were slight as investors applied the brakes after recent advances, with debate also focusing on the depth of an expected US interest rate cut.

The broad gains follow another record lead from Wall Street, where the Dow ended above 27,000 for the first time.

"Equity markets in the US rallied yesterday as traders remain hopeful the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates," noted analyst David Madden at CMC Markets UK.

"Dealers remain divided as the size of the cut and when we might see the rates being lowered, but the view across the board is that monetary policy will be loosened."

AFP