Equity markets expected to decline ahead of US inflation. The Eurostoxx 50 opens at 4,208.30 points (-0.59%), the CAC 40 at 7,008.23 points (-0.09%), the DAX 40 at 15,639.26 points (-0.30% ), the FTSE 100 at 7,321.26 points (-0.22%), the SMI at 12,607.63 points (+0.08%), the AEX at 791.91 points (-0.73%), the BEL 20 at 4,184.18 points (-0.06%), IBEX 35 at 8,399.60 points (-0.93%), DJIA at 35,754.69 points unchanged, Nasdaq at 15,517.37 points (- 1.71%), the S&P 500 at 4,667.45 points (-0.72%) and the Nikkei 225 at 28,437.77 points (-1.00%).

With regard to exchange rates, the variation compared to the closing in New York, EUR/USD at 1.1304 (+0.10%), EUR/JPY at 128.25 (+0 .09%) and USD/JPY at 113.46 (-0.01%).

The aeronautical group Airbus for its part announced Thursday that it would seek an independent expert in order to settle the dispute with one of its customers, Qatar Airways, concerning a problem of deterioration of the surfaces of the fuselage of some of its planes. The large distribution group Casino has indicated that it has sold 3% of the capital of the commercial real estate company Mercialys for an amount of 24 million euros, through a yield transfer credit derivative (TRS). Following the transaction, the group's stake in Mercialys fell from 19.9% to 16.9%. The oil services group TechnipFMC announced on Thursday evening that it had signed three framework agreements with the Brazilian oil company Petrobras which, together, form a contract described as "important" by the company. No economic indicator should be published Friday in France.

European equity markets are expected to open lower on Friday, in the wake of Wall Street and Asian stock markets, as caution prevails before the publication of the consumer price index in the United States. Around 7:10 a.m., the CAC 40 futures contract lost 24 points, or 0.3%, according to data from broker IG Markets. The contract on the DAX 40 yielded 73 points, or 0.5%, and that on the FTSE 100 gave up 32.3 points, or 0.4%.

Investors await the latest US inflation figures, which could influence discussions within the Federal Reserve (Fed) at its monetary policy meeting next week. They will also be watching the German inflation and UK gross domestic product (GDP) releases on Friday. In Asia, the main stock indices are moving in the red on Friday. The Shanghai Composite index lost 0.2% at the end of the session and the Hang Seng, the flagship index of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, fell by 0.7%. The Nikkei index ended down 1% in Tokyo.

Yields on long-dated US Treasuries were flat on Friday morning, ahead of the much-hyped US Consumer Price Index. Separately, the European Central Bank (ECB) may not be ready to make all the decisions it originally planned at its December meeting, according to Nordea.

The euro gained some ground on Friday morning against the dollar and the yen, while the greenback was stable against the Japanese currency. The foreign exchange market should remain on guard until the publication of the consumer price index in the United States. A high inflation rate would lead investors to expect a quicker tightening of monetary policy from the Fed, which could support the dollar ahead of the US central bank meeting next week. The Fed could take the markets by surprise by advancing policy tightening, warns Nigel Green of financial advisory firm DeVere.

Oil prices continued to fall on Friday morning, after losing ground the day before on fears that health restrictions linked to the Omicron variant of the coronavirus would weigh on energy demand. At 7:20 a.m., the February contract for Brent North Sea crude was down 40 cents to $74.04 a barrel. The January contract on Nymex-listed light sweet crude (WTI) fell 31 cents to $70.63 a barrel.