LONDON – European markets were shaken on Friday morning, as British and European leaders pessimistic views on the prospect of an agreement on a post-Brexit trade deal.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 hovered on both sides of the flat line in early trade, with travel and leisure stocks slipping 0.8%, while core resources added 0.7%.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Thursday that talks were in a “serious situation” and that an agreement was unlikely to be reached unless the EU wanted to change its position on fisheries. long working time.
The comments came after an appeal with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who also said that reaching an agreement would now be “very difficult”, with two weeks to go before the UK leaves the EU.
European stocks are gearing up for a joint Asia-Pacific surrender, with investors reacting to the Bank of Japan’s announcement of a six-month extension of its special program to ease corporate financing pressures in the context of the coronavirus pandemic. The 10-year Japanese government bond yield target was set at around 0%, while the short-term interest rate target was set at -0.1%.
The US state indicates a lower opening on Friday, after all three major indices closed the previous session at records, fueled by developments in the Covid-19 vaccine and the hope of a consensus in Washington on additional fiscal incentive.
An influential US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory committee overwhelmingly approved the modern emergency coronavirus vaccine, a key step toward the distribution of the second Covid-19 vaccine in the United States next week after it was phased out. already the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
Meanwhile, Capitol Hill lawmakers said they were close to an agreement that would provide additional $ 900 billion in aid.
In terms of data, consumer confidence in the UK rose the most in eight years in December, with a survey launched on Friday from market research firm GfK moving from -26 to -33 in November, as the launch of the first Covid-19 vaccine program in the country raised the sentiment.
The Ifo business climate survey in Germany, closely monitored for December, will be published at 9am London time.
There were no major changes in share prices at the beginning of the transactions. The British payment solutions company Network International fell by 3.3% to the bottom of the Stoxx 600 model, while at the other end of the index, the pharmaceutical company Hikma rose by 4.2%.
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