The German market erased some of the early gains and is marginally higher in afternoon trading Friday, after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi's comments lifted stocks in the previous session. Mixed corporate reports from across the region weighed on sentiment, ahead of the release of the U.S. GDP data.
The European Central Bank President Mario Draghi on Thursday said the bank is prepared to take whatever measures needed to preserve the euro. "Within our mandate, the ECB is ready to do whatever it takes to preserve the euro," he told an investment conference in London. "And believe me, it will be enough," he stated.
While Draghi's comments pleased investors in the previous session, earnings reports from a slew of companies provided little impetus for continued cheer.
The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks is adding 0.35 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, is gaining 0.37 percent.
The DAX index is currently gaining 0.03 percent.
Commerzbank is losing 1.9 percent and Deutsche bank is falling 0.6 percent.
Siemens is down 0.6 percent after Barclays cut the stock to ''Equalweight" from "Overweight."
S&P Equity raised Vossloh to "Hold" from "Sell." The stock is losing 2.7 percent.
Gea Group is dropping 3.7 percent. UBS lowered its rating on the stock.
ThyssenKrupp is climbing 1.1 percent. Linde is gaining around 1 percent after reporting higher profit for the first half of the year.
Elsewhere in Europe, the French CAC 40 is adding 0.58 percent and the UK's FTSE 100 is rising 0.02 percent. Switzerland's SMI is gaining 0.43 percent.
In economic news, Germany's flash inflation data is due at 8.00 am ET, which may have some impact on the markets. Economists forecast EU harmonized inflation to ease to 1.9 percent in July from 2 percent in June. On a monthly basis, the harmonized index is seen rising 0.4 percent.
In the U.S., the Bureau of Economic Analysis is due to release its advance estimate of second quarter GDP at 8:30 am ET. Economists expect GDP growth of 1.2 percent for the quarter following a 1.9 percent increase in the previous quarter.
Across Asia/Pacific, markets reacted positively to the remarks made by Draghi. Australia's All Ordinaries and Japan's Nikkei 225 climbed 1.5 percent each and Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 2 percent. China's Shanghai Composite Index added 0.1 percent.
In the U.S., futures point to a higher open on Wall Street. In the previous session, stocks moved sharply higher during trading in response to comments made by Mario Draghi. The Dow jumped 1.7 percent, the Nasdaq surged up 1.4 percent and the S&P 500 soared 1.7 percent.
In the commodity space, crude for September delivery is adding $0.20 to $89.59 per barrel and August gold is rising $2.3 to $1617.4 a troy ounce.
by RTT Staff Writer
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