BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks may drift lower at open on Friday as investors follow the latest announcements on U.S. trade policy and tariffs.
Many U.S. trading partners offered careful responses after an U.S. appeals court temporarily reinstated President Trump's tariffs, giving the court time to review legal arguments and filings.
The Trump administration must submit its briefings by June 9, after which the court will determine the next steps.
Earlier, Trump blasted the court of international trade's ruling as 'incredible' and politically motivated while expressing hope that the Supreme Court would overturn the decision 'quickly and decisively.'
'The President of the United States must be allowed to protect America against those that are doing it Economic and Financial harm,' he added.
According to Wall Street Journal, the Trump Administration is looking at efforts that allow for 15 percent baseline tariff on large parts of the global economy under an existing law for a 150-day period.
Adding to the tariff uncertainty, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the trade talks between the United States and China are 'a bit stalled' and that there should be a call between the President and his counterpart Xi Jinping at some point in the next weeks, given the complexities involved.
Meanwhile, markets look forward to the U.S. PCE inflation data later in the day for additional clues on the Fed's policy path.
Trump called Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to the White House on Thursday and told the central bank chief he was making a 'mistake' by not lowering interest rates.
'Powell did not discuss his expectations for monetary policy, except to stress that the path of policy will depend entirely on incoming economic information and what that means for the outlook,' the Fed said in a statement after the meeting.
Markets also await preliminary German inflation data ahead of next week's European Central Bank policy meeting.
Asian markets were mixed, with South Korea, Japan and Hong Kong leading regional losses on concerns that trade headwinds will not subside anytime soon.
The dollar ticked higher, sending gold prices down below $3,300 per ounce. Oil edged lower and was set for a weekly drop as markets braced for a potential OPEC+ output hike.
U.S. stocks fluctuated before closing moderately higher overnight as strong Nvidia earnings and easing bond yields after a strong note auction offset legal uncertainty surrounding President Trump's reciprocal tariffs.
In economic releases, weekly jobless claims rose, corporate profits fell sharply in the first quarter, pending home sales dropped by most since 2022 and revised GDP figures confirmed first contraction since 2022 and showed slowdown in consumer spending growth, reinforcing bets the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates twice by early 2026.
The Dow edged up by 0.3 percent while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 both added around 0.4 percent.
European stocks reversed course to end lower on Thursday due to ongoing uncertainty over U.S. tariffs.
The pan European STOXX 600 dropped 0.2 percent. The German DAX dipped 0.4 percent while France's CAC 40 and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 both slid by 0.1 percent.
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