European stocks are poised to open higher on Friday, building on momentum that has pushed regional indexes higher this week.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 added 0.5% in Thursday’s session after reaching a record high earlier in the day. It marked the index’s fifth consecutive day of gains and put it on course to end the week up over 2%.
Futures tied to London’s FTSE 100 index — which also hit an all-time high earlier this week — were last seen trading 0.2% higher. Those tied to the German DAX and France’s CAC 40 were trading 0.2% higher, while FTSE MIB futures were up by 0.3%.
Global markets have been on a positive run this week, as an OpenAI share sale that valued the privately-owned AI behemoth at $500 billion revitalized the run on tech stocks.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Technology index is currently on track for a weekly gain of 4.9% after rising by 2.3% on Thursday.
Investors across the globe are continuing to monitor the U.S. government shutdown, which enters its third day on Friday. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC in an interview on Thursday that the shutdown could hurt America’s economic growth.
Back in Europe, regional leaders congregated in Copenhagen earlier this week to discuss the possibility of building a drone wall to deter Russian aircraft from violating airspace on the continent. European defense giants told CNBC they welcomed the plans.
On Friday, Munich airport briefly closed after drone sightings brought flights to a halt, news agency Reuters reported.
Regional investors will be monitoring a slew of economic data releases on Friday, including the latest Swiss inflation print and the euro zone unemployment rate for August.
Overnight in Asia, markets were mixed, while U.S. stock futures were little changed on Friday morning as the government shutdown continued.
