People visit Lookout Point in Greenwich Park with the Canary Wharf financial district in the distance during sunny but cold weather on January 2, 2026 in London, UK.
Henry Nicholls | Afp | Getty Images
European futures data pointed to a positive open for regional equities on Friday, as easing oil prices boosted sentiment in global equity markets.
Futures for the pan-European Stoxx 50 jumped 0.7% over the week’s last trading session, while those for Germany’s DAX and London’s FTSE 100 were up 0.6% and 0.5% respectively. French CAC 40 futures added 0.3%.
Capital markets are capping off a volatile week that saw a sell-off holding assets across the board following the outbreak of the US-Iran war.
Stocks listed in Europe closed Thursday’s session broadly lower, as uncertainty surrounding the conflict in the Middle East lingered and overwrote some temporary optimism that saw regional shares regain some lost ground on Wednesday.
For the week, the pan-European Stoxx 600 is on course for a 4.6% loss — its deepest since last April, at the height of market fears about a US-China trade war.
Oil prices were lower by global standards on Friday morning Brent is raw It was down 0.4% at $85.08 a barrel by 7:15 am (2:15 am ET) in London. West Texas Intermediate Crude It was down 0.5% at $80.56 per barrel.
Oil prices
This comes after the US gave India, the world’s third-largest oil importer, a 30-day waiver to resume buying Russian oil. Washington had previously imposed 25% “penalty” tariffs on India for buying Russian crude, which were withdrawn last month.
The conflict between Iran and the US entered its seventh day on Friday. At a press conference on Thursday, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the US had “just begun to fight back”.
“Iran is hoping that we can’t sustain this, which is a really bad miscalculation,” he told reporters. “There’s no shortage of American will here … If you think you’ve seen something, wait. The amount of combat power that’s still flowing, still coming, that we’re able to project on Iran, when you add our capabilities and the capabilities of the Israeli Defense Forces, is a multiple of what it is now.”
Asian shares rose on Friday as oil prices fell, easing concerns about a possible spike in global energy prices and inflation. In the US, stock futures were also higher in the final trading session of the week.
European investors will monitor economic data releases on Friday, including German factory orders, UK house prices and euro zone GDP figures. German airline Lufthansa reports earnings.
(tags to translate) Breaking News: Markets
