European stocks opened mixed on Friday, as investors digested a series of interest rate decisions and looked forward to budget negotiations in France.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 The situation was largely unchanged as of 8:25 a.m. in London, with most major regional exchanges trading flat.
Looking at individual stocks, sportswear giants Puma And Adidas were down 1.9% and 0.7% respectively, due to concerns over its US rival NikeThe performance of has had repercussions on companies across the Atlantic.
Although Nike beat Wall Street estimates with its second-quarter financial results, investors were rattled by weakness in the Chinese market and the lingering impact of the Trump administration’s tariff regime.
Nike shares were down 10% in after-hours trading and the stock is down 20% from its February high.
Puma was one of the worst performing stocks on the Stoxx 600 on Friday morning.
Regional investors are reeling from a day packed with central bank decisions, with monetary policy updates from the Bank of England, European Central Bank, Norges Bank and the Riksbank on Thursday. All except the Bank of England, which cut interest rates by 25 basis points, kept their key interest rates unchanged.
The ECB has upgraded its outlook for economic growth in the euro zone, saying it now expects growth of up to 1.4% in 2025 and 1.2% in 2026.
On Friday, European traders will also be following news from France, where lawmakers are due to hold crucial budget negotiations. A joint committee of politicians will consider the terms of a 2026 spending plan on Friday, but divisions along political ideology could make finding consensus difficult. Failure to achieve a breakthrough would force Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu to resort to emergency measures to allow spending and borrowing to continue into the new year until a budget can be drawn up.
Last month, Lecornu said the potential absence of a budget before the new year constituted a “danger weighing on France”, according to local media.
The country has already faced its share of political turmoil this year, when Lecornu – France’s fifth prime minister in five years – resigned after 27 days in office, only to be reinstated in office later in the week.
Separately, European Union officials announced Friday that they had approved a 90 billion euro ($105.5 billion) aid plan for Ukraine, opting not to draw on frozen Russian assets to fund loans to kyiv.
Today’s European economic data includes the latest German consumer confidence figure from GfK, UK retail sales figures and an Italian business confidence figure.
Across the Atlantic, global investors will be watching existing home sales figures as well as final Michigan consumer confidence data for December. Stock futures on Wall Street were mixed Friday morning, after slowing inflation figures helped U.S. stocks end a four-day losing streak on Thursday.
