European Stock Markets Struggle for Direction

European stock markets struggled for direction Friday as investors processed disappointing UK growth data, French inflation figures, and hawkish comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

At 06:50 ET (11:50 GMT), the DAX index in Germany traded largely flat, the CAC 40 in France fell 0.1%, and the FTSE 100 in the U.K. dropped 0.2%.

UK Economy Contracted in September

Britain's economy unexpectedly contracted in September, with GDP slipping by 0.1% in monthly terms. For Q3, the economy grew by only 0.1%, down from 0.5% in Q2 and below the Bank of England's forecast of 0.2% expansion.

This follows the eurozone's growth of just 0.4% in Q3, with Germany's economy showing particular weakness. In France, consumer prices rose 1.6% year-on-year in October, slightly up from the preliminary reading of 1.5% released last month.

Jerome Powell’s hawkish comments added pressure, indicating that the US central bank does not need to rush to cut interest rates, amidst uncertainty with President-elect Donald Trump's return.

Evotec Soars on Potential Purchase

In European corporate news, Evotec (ETR:EVTG) jumped nearly 20% after Halozyme Therapeutics (NASDAQ:HALO) proposed acquiring the German drug developer. Meanwhile, European vaccine makers faced pressure, with Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) dropping 4.4% and GSK (LON:GSK) lower by 3.8%, following Trump’s choice of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a vaccine skeptic, to head the Department of Health and Human Services.

Land Securities (LON:LAND) saw a 3% increase after an earnings forecast above market expectations.

Crude Prices Hit by Demand Concerns

Crude prices fell Friday amidst concerns that China, the world’s largest crude importer, continues to struggle with an uneven economic recovery. As of 06:50 ET, U.S. crude futures (WTI) dropped 0.3% to $68.50 a barrel, and Brent fell 0.4% to $72.26 a barrel, with both contracts on track for about a 3% weekly decline.

Economic data indicated that China's oil refiners processed 4.6% less crude in October compared to a year earlier, marking the seventh consecutive month of decline. Concerns were exacerbated by OPEC's reduced demand outlook and a rise in U.S. oil inventories by nearly 2.1 million barrels for the week ending November 8, raising fears of a supply glut as U.S. production remained near record highs of over 13 million barrels per day. The International Energy Agency warned that robust production is expected to exceed demand by 2025, even with ongoing OPEC supply cuts.