European equity markets expected to fall sharply after Wall Street's decline. The Eurostoxx 50 opens at 4,201.87 points (+1.01%), the CAC 40 at 7,005.07 points (+1.12%), the DAX 40 at 15,636.40 points (+1.03% ), the FTSE 100 at 7,260.61 points (+1.25%), the SMI at 12,790.89 points (+2.07%), the AEX at 781.59 points (+0.79%), the BEL 20 at 4,168.98 points (+1.14%), IBEX 35 at 8,380.00 points (+1.27%), DJIA at 35,897.64 points (-0.08%), Nasdaq at 15,180.43 points (-2.47%), the S&P 500 at 4,668.67 points (-0.87%) and the Nikkei 225 at 28,545.68 points (-1.79%).

With regard to exchange rates, the variation compared to the closing in New York, EUR/USD at 1.1342 (+0.11%), EUR/JPY at 128.81 (+0, 02%) and USD/JPY at 113.58 (-0.11%).

European equity markets are expected to open lower on Friday as investors react to the prospect of monetary policy tightening and growth risks from the Omicron variant. At 7:30 a.m., the CAC 40 futures contract was down 59.1 points, or 0.9%, according to data from broker IG Markets. The DAX 40 contract lost 97.5 points, or 0.6%, and the FTSE 100 contract lost 33.8 points, or 0.5%.

The New York Stock Exchange ended in sharp decline Thursday after a sharp decline in technology, the day after the announcement of an accelerated withdrawal of monetary support from the Federal Reserve (Fed) to counter inflation. In Asia, most markets fell on Friday, in the wake of Wall Street's decline the day before. The Nikkei index closed down 1.8% in Tokyo, while the Hong Kong Stock Exchange's Hang Seng lost 1.1% and the Shanghai Composite lost 1% at the end of the session.

Yields on US government bonds changed little on Friday morning, after falling on Thursday. Around 7:30 am, the rate of the ten-year Treasury title, the market benchmark, stood at 1.416%, against 1.417% on Thursday evening. The two-year bond's yield fell on Thursday at its biggest drop in nearly three weeks, as investors focused on Omicron's impact while wondering if the U.S. could handle the U.S. rate hikes. interest provided by the Federal Reserve (Fed).

The euro gained some ground on Friday morning against the dollar but was unchanged against the yen. The dollar retreats for its part against the Japanese currency. The rise in sterling following the Bank of England's rate hike may prove short-lived, Nomura says.

Oil prices fell on Friday morning, on continued concerns over the Omicron variant and despite favorable data on US oil inventories and growing tensions between Russia and Ukraine. By 7:30 a.m., the February North Sea Brent contract was down 72 cents to $74.30 a barrel. The January contract on Nymex-listed light sweet crude (WTI) fell 80 cents to $71.58 a barrel.