By Peter Nurse
Investing.com - European stock markets traded mixed Friday, with hope of a prompt Brexit deal helping the U.K. market outperform, while mounting tensions between China and the U.S. and faltering progress toward a new U.S. virus relief package weighed.
At 4 AM ET (0800 GMT), the DAX in Germany traded 0.2% higher, the CAC 40 in France fell 0.1% and the U.K.'s FTSE index was up 0.3%.
A trade deal between Britain and the European Union is still possible in September, Britain's finance minister Rishi Sunak said on Friday.
"On Brexit, as you will have heard recent reports, we remain confident that it's possible to get a deal in September," he told Sky News.
The thought of Britain ending the year without a deal with its nearest and largest trading partner has hit confidence in the U.K. economy.
Adding to the positive European news was strong German industrial production growth, climbing 8.9% in June, ahead of the 7.4% growth seen the previous month. French and Spanish output also rebounded by more than expected, although economists warned that further gains will be harder to achieve.
Overnight, U.S. President Donald Trump unveiled bans on U.S. transactions with China's ByteDance, owner of video-sharing app TikTok, and on messenger app WeChat, owned by Tencent Holdings (OTC:TCEHY).
Tension has been simmering between the two powers for months, with the United States unhappy with China's handling of the novel coronavirus outbreak and moves to curb freedoms in Hong Kong. The original cause of their tension - China's trade surplus - surged back toward record levels in July, with exports surging 7.2% from a year earlier.
Meanwhile, negotiations on a U.S. virus relief deal ended Thursday night with the White House and Democrats making little headway.
In corporate news, Rolls-Royce (LON:RR) stock dropped 3.9% after the Financial Times reported that activist shareholder ValueAct Capital Management has sold its stake in the company.
On the flip side, Deutsche Telekom (DE:DTEGn), which owns 43% of T-Mobile, rose 2.3% after the U.S. firm impressed with its monthly phone subscriber additions.
Markets will focus later on the release of the official U.S. employment report, at 8:30 AM ET (1230 GMT). Nonfarm payrolls are expected to have increased by 1.6 million jobs in July, which would be a sharp step-down from the record 4.8 million in June.
Oil prices weakened Friday, amid uncertainty over the new stimulus package in the U.S. and the impact that would have on fuel demand growth given the recent resurgence of coronavirus infections.
U.S. crude futures traded 0.2% lower at $41.86 a barrel, while the international benchmark Brent contract fell 0.2% to $45.01.
Elsewhere, gold futures rose 0.1% to $2,059.90/oz, retreating a touch after hitting a record $2,077.85 an ounce earlier in the session. Gold has rallied more than 33% in 2020, putting it on track for the biggest annual gain in over four decades.