European markets seen flat as investors watch coronavirus concerns, economic data

  • President Donald Trump on Thursday announced that he is blocking attempts from Congressional Democrats to include U.S. Postal Service funding and election infrastructure in a potential coronavirus relief bill.
  • The U.K. has imposed a new 14-day quarantine period on all arrivals from France from Saturday due to the rising rate of coronavirus cases in the country.

European markets are set for a muted open on Friday as investors monitor concerns over a second wave of coronavirus cases and await second-quarter euro zone GDP (gross domestic product) growth estimates.

Britain's FTSE 100 is seen around 8 points higher at 6,194, Germany's DAX is set to open around 6 points higher at 13,000 and France's CAC 40 is expected to inch around 4 points higher to 5,046, according to IG data.

The handover from Asia Pacific is set to be mostly higher, though caution over stalled U.S. stimulus talks continued to weigh on risk sentiment.

President Donald Trump on Thursday announced that he is blocking attempts from Congressional Democrats to include U.S. Postal Service funding and election infrastructure in a potential coronavirus relief bill, furthering his efforts to prevent Americans from voting as polls show him lagging behind Democratic nominee Joe Biden.

The U.K. has imposed a new 14-day quarantine period on all arrivals from France from Saturday due to the rising rate of coronavirus cases in the country. The Netherlands, Malta and Monaco were also added to the quarantine list, which already featured Spain and Belgium.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and new Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin struck an optimistic tone over the possibility of a post-Brexit free trade agreement following a first meeting on Thursday, though Johnson cautioned that the U.K. would not yield on its rejection of "level playing field" clauses.

The European Commission has entered contract negotiations with U.S. pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson over the purchase of 200 million doses of a potential Covid-19 vaccine to be distributed among its 27 member states.

Euro zone estimated GDP growth rates for the second quarter will be published at 10 a.m. London time, along with quarterly employment change figures and June's balance of trade data.

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