LONDON — European markets are expected to open higher on Friday as a record-setting previous session for the U.S. buoys sentiment.
Futures tied to the U.K.’s FTSE 100 were last seen 0.4% higher, Germany’s DAX was 0.5% up, and France’s CAC 0.4% in positive territory, according to data from IG Group.
Global investors will be watching the latest developments between Ukraine and Russia on Friday amid warnings by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte that Europe must be prepared for war.
“Russia has brought war back to Europe, and we must be prepared for the scale of war our grandparents or great-grandparents endured,” he said.
It comes as Russia’s central bank has said Europe’s plan to use frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine was illegal. European Union governments want to agree on the proposal on Friday, per reports.
On the theme of defense, the White House’s new national security strategy spooked Europe last week as it warned the region faced “civilizational erasure” and questioned whether it could remain a geopolitical partner for the U.S., and fallout from the publication continues.
David Petraeus, the former CIA Director and a four-star US Army general, told CNBC on Thursday that it was no bad thing for European nations to get a wake-up call to prioritize their defense and security.
The strategy was, “in a way, going after the Europeans but, frankly, some of the Europeans needed to be gotten after because I watched as four different presidents tried to exhort the Europeans to do more for their own defense and now that’s actually happening,” he told CNBC’s Dan Murphy in Abu Dhabi.
Elsewhere, Switzerland’s central bank left rates unchanged on Thursday at 0%, citing inflation coming in slightly lower than expected.
The euro reached its highest point against the dollar since Oct. 3. on Thursday at $1.1738, as the U.S. currency continues to depreciate.
Asia-Pacific markets traded higher Friday, tracking Wall Street gains after two key benchmarks hit new records on the heels of the recent Federal Reserve decision to cut rates.
Stateside, futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were higher Thursday night after strong gains in value areas of the market pushed both the 30-stock index and the S&P 500 to fresh highs.
— CNBC’s Holly Ellyatt contributed to this report.
