Peter Nurse 

European Stock Markets Slip Friday – The markets are adapting to the new reality that central banks tighten monetary policy despite another Covid-induced slowdown. 

At 4:10 AM ET (0910 GMT), the in Germany traded 0.8% lower, the in France fell 0.7% and the U.K.’s dropped 0.1%. 

Two of Europe’s biggest central banks took steps to combat surging inflation on Thursday, with the Bank of England raising interest rates for the first time since the pandemic started and the European Central Bank saying it will end its emergency bond-buying program in three months’ time. Contrary to the Federal Reserve however, the ECB will still buy bonds until at least the end next year.

The Bank of Japan continued with the same theme and said it would reduce its quantitative ease program at March’s end, which will see the Bank of Japan stop buying corporate bonds or commercial paper.

Although the general trend toward tightening monetary policies is evident, the divergent paths taken by central bankers underline the deep uncertainty about the impact of the Omicron variant’s rapid spread. 

This is corporate news Credit Suisse (SIX:) stock fell 0.8% after the Financial Times reported that Eric Varvel, chairman of the Swiss lender’s investment bank, is in discussions to leave the company.

Airbus stock rose 0.4% following the announcement by the manufacturer of aircraft that 100 narrow-body planes would be supplied to Air France KLM subsidiaries. HSBC stock dropped 0.3% after the U.K financial regulator finessed the bank giant nearly 64 million pounds ($85million) for its failures in anti-money laundering procedures over an eight year period.

Heading the European data slate, the November for Eurozone is anticipated to show that inflation is still high, while widely watched December dropped to 94.7, from 96.6 in the past month.

As Omicron Covid-19 cases surge, oil prices fell Friday. This is despite the fact that there are concerns about new restrictions on oil demand. 

To round out the week, traders will be watching for the release of both the position data and the oil rig count later in the session. 

Futures were trading 1.6% lower at $71.25 per barrel by 4:10 AM ET. The contract dropped 1.4% to $73.94. Brent will lose 1.2% this week while the U.S. contract could finish the week with a 0.1% loss.

The price of gold rose 0.7% to $1810.05/oz while it traded 0.1% lower at 1.1338.