People cross the road in front of the European Central Bank (ECB) headquarters building in Frankfurt am Main in western Germany on June 5, 2024.
Kirill Kudryavtsev | Kirill Kudryavtsev AFP | Getty Images
LONDON – European markets were higher on Friday, the final trading day of August, as investors focused on key inflation data from the region and the United States.
At 9:17 a.m. London time, the pan-European Stoxx 600 index rose 0.37% to hit a new intraday high of 526.50 points. Most major regional exchanges and sectors were trading in the green. Technology stocks fell 0.5%, mining stocks rose 1.1% and utilities rose 0.9%.
The Stoxx 600 posted gains on Thursday, led by technology stocks, as investors considered artificial intelligence heavyweight Nvidia's latest quarterly earnings report earlier this week.
Europe and the U.S. are due to release a slew of key inflation data on Friday
According to the French Statistics Office, the preliminary annual rate of the EU harmonized consumer price index in France in August was 2.2%, down from 2.7% in July. explain Friday. Further inflation data from Italy and the euro zone were expected later in the day.
Previous consumer price index reports released by Germany and Spain on Thursday showed that inflationary pressures in the two countries are easing.
In Germany, the preliminary annual headline figure based on EU unification fell to 2% in August, beating expectations for 2.3% and 2.6% in July. Spain's preliminary August unified inflation data was 2.4%, also lower than expected and lower than the 2.9% last month.
Investors will be watching the data closely for clues on whether the European Central Bank will cut interest rates again in September.
Also in European data, France's final second-quarter gross domestic product showed growth of 0.2% according to The country's National Statistics Office revised down preliminary data released in July by 0.3%.
The U.S. will also provide inflation insights in the form of the all-important Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index, the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge that can inform the central bank's monetary policy. The Federal Reserve has not yet started to cut interest rates, but the market has firmly priced in expectations of a rate cut in September.
After several days of choppy trading this week, U.S. futures were last little changed ahead of the data release. Elsewhere, Asia-Pacific markets rose on Friday.
