Equity markets expected slightly higher after Wall Street records. This Friday morning, the Eurostoxx 50 opens at 4,226.33 points with an increase of 0.48%, the CAC 40 at 6,882.47 points (+0.36%), the DAX 30 at 15,937.51 points ( +0.70%), the FTSE 100 at 7,193.23 points (-0.37%), the SMI at 12,429.17 points (+0.33%), the AEX at 775.24 points (-0, 08%), the BEL 20 at 4,349.07 points (+0.21%), the IBEX 35 at 8,979.40 points (+0.04%), the DJIA at 35,499.85 points (+0.04% ), the Nasdaq at 14,816.26 points (+0.35%), the S&P 500 at 4,460.83 points (+0.30%) and the Nikkei 225 at 28,028.52 points, up 0.05%.

Regarding the exchange rate, the variation compared to the close in New York indicates that the EUR/USD is showing at 1.1740 with an improvement of 0.09%, the EUR/JPY at 129.61 (+0.06%) and the USD/JPY which opened at 110.41 down 0.03%.

The pharmaceutical laboratory Ipsen announced on Friday the withdrawal of its application for approval for palovarotene after discussions with the American health authority, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This drug is being developed by Ipsen as a potential treatment for patients with extremely rare and debilitating bone diseases. On the macroeconomic side, consumer price statistics for the month of July will be released at 8:45 a.m.

European equity markets should try to stay in positive territory on Friday at the open, after new records reached Thursday evening on Wall Street. At 7:40 am, the futures contract on the CAC 40 yielded 2.8 points, or 0.04%, according to data from the broker IG Markets. The DAX 30 contract rose 0.5 points, and the FTSE 100 contract rose 10.2 points, or 0.1%. Investors will look Friday at the euro zone's trade balance statistics for June and the University of Michigan's consumer confidence index for August. The New York Stock Exchange closed slightly higher on Thursday after an undecided session, allowing the S&P 500 and Dow Jones indices to set a third historic record in a row. In Asia, equity markets fell on Friday, remaining penalized by concerns about the Delta variant of the coronavirus. At the end of the session, the Nikkei index of the Tokyo Stock Exchange gained 0.1%, the Hang Seng index yielded 0.7% in Hong Kong and the Shanghai Composite lost 0.3%.

Yields on US Treasury bonds fell on Friday morning, after closing higher the day before, supported by the auction of 30-year securities for the amount of 27 billion and the publication of a producer price index in the United States. United States higher than economists' expectations. At 7:10 a.m., the yield on the ten-year US Treasury benchmark stood at 1.351%, after closing Thursday at 1.362%. In theory, high inflation should cause long-term bond rates to rise, as price pressures can erode the real yield on government debt securities.

The euro gained some ground on Friday morning against the dollar and the yen, while the greenback was stable against the yen. Traders will take a close look at the University of Michigan's consumer confidence survey on Friday, particularly their long-term inflation outlook, which has risen sharply in recent months and could lead to wage pressures, CBA said. According to Commerzbank, the euro should rally against the dollar at the end of the year, as a marked slowdown in inflation in the United States will lead investors to postpone their expectations for the first rate hike by the Federal Reserve. Inflationary pressures are expected to ease significantly in the fourth quarter of 2021 and inflation to fall significantly in the first half of 2022, said Ulrich Leuchtmann, currency analyst at Commerzbank.

Oil prices continue to fall in Asian trading on Friday, after the publication of monthly reports from the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the Organization of Petroleum Producing Countries (OPEC), which highlighted the risks for the request. At 7:20 a.m., the October North Sea Brent contract was down 50 cents to $70.81 a barrel. The September contract for light sweet crude (WTI) listed on the Nymex fell 55 cents to $68.54 a barrel.