European stock markets are set to push higher Friday, helped by signs the global recovery is picking up pace. U.S. factory activity climbed to a five-month high in August, according to the flash purchasing managers’ index released on Thursday, and this followed similar positive signals earlier in the day from both China and Germany. Already Friday the second reading of the German gross domestic product figures confirmed that Europe’s economic powerhouse grew at a rate of 0.7% in the second quarter, and the release of the equivalent data in the U.K., at 1630 (+8 GMT) , is expected to confirm growth of 0.6%. This suggests hard data are beginning to back up the improvements in the region’s economic surveys. That said, the specter of the U.S. Federal Reserve cutting back its $85 billion-a-month asset-buying program still looms large, and so July’s new home sales data in the U.S. this afternoon will be studied carefully, especially as a report released yesterday showed that mortgage rates have now risen to two-year highs.
Posted on: Fri, 23 Aug 2013 06:58:02 +0000
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