European Shares Seen Tad Lower As Investors Await US Inflation Data

European stocks are likely to drift lower at open on Friday as investors await the last key U.S. inflation reading before Christmas.

November’s personal consumption expenditure index is due later in the day, with analysts expecting a 0.2 percent increase month-on-month.

The Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, which will be released along with a report on personal income and spending might offer important clues to the path of future Federal Reserve policy.

Asian markets were seeing modest gains in cautious trade and the dollar hovered around four-month lows while gold hit its highest level in nearly three weeks on growing bets the Fed will cut interest rates early next year.

Oil prices rose about 1 percent and were set for a second weekly gain due to nervousness about the security of Red Sea shipping.

Meanwhile, Angola announced it’s leaving OPEC after 16 years, highlighting tensions within the producer group.

U.S. stocks rose notably overnight, a day after the major indexes suffered their worst daily sell-off in months.

Investors digested a wave of data showing lower-than-expected GDP growth in the third quarter, downward revisions to both headline and core PCE inflation, historically low jobless claims and weakening regional business activity.

The Dow gained 0.9 percent, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite surged 1.3 percent and the S&P 500 rallied 1 percent.

European stocks closed lower on Thursday after two days of gains.

The pan European STOXX 600 eased 0.2 percent. The German DAX and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 both dipped around 0.3 percent while France’s CAC 40 slipped 0.2 percent.

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