Geoffrey Smith 

Investing.com – European stock markets will open higher this Friday as the overall positive handover of the U.S.A and Asia continues to reduce concerns about Covid-19’s new winter wave. 

Germany’s Federal and State Governments agreed to tighten up restrictions on people who are not vaccinated on Thursday in response to an increase in infections that has seen the incidence of cases rise to 30%. They did however set a higher threshold than the existing one for generalized lockdowns. 

At 02:10 AM ET (0610 GMT), the points were up by 55 points or 0.3%. 

After shocking October producer price inflation figures, which showed prices increasing by 3.8%, the German and Eurozone market were put to the test. This brings the annual rate for factory gate inflation in Europe’s biggest economy up at 18.4%. In response, the euro fell to $1.1355 French data showed that unemployment rose more than anticipated to 8.1% in October. 

The U.K. saw a 0.4% increase in unemployment after GfK’s most recent consumer confidence index unexpectedly increased to -14, from -17 in October. Although analysts expected the unemployment to fall, figures from earlier this week revealed that the October end of GfK’s consumer confidence index showed there was no increase in employment.

Retail sales in the UK also rose by 0.8% in October. This is further evidence of an economy strong enough to handle a slight increase in interest rates from Bank of England. Sales rose by 1.6% in October, even excluding fuel. There were panic buying reactions due to sharp rises in prices and reports about shortages. 

The retailer is the latest corporate news Kingfisher A slimmed down list of companies that report is led by (LON)

The U.S. House of Representatives will vote later Friday on the Democratic Party’s $2 trillion spending bill. Speaker Nancy Pelosi appears to have finally overcome divisions within her party. Wall Street looks mixed as the week ends, with broad confidence in America’s economy being only partially dimmed by areas of uncertainty. Alibaba (NYSE) was the latest company in high profile to disappoint market expectations. However, the quarterly results of the People’s Bank of China on Thursday were disappointing. On Friday, however, the mainland Chinese stock markets reacted with relief. The People’s Bank of China issued a warning against investors placing bullish bets about the yuan. 

Futures on oil markets recovered overnight, however, are expected to close the week lower, as India, China, and the U.S. plan a coordinated release from strategic petroleum reserves. WTI gained 1.0% to $79.20/barrel, and $82.06 gained 1.0%.  were lower by 0.1% at $1859.75 an ounce.