European stocks were cautiously higher on Friday as global markets remained buoyant after softer-than-expected U.S. consumer price index reading signaled that inflation may have peaked.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 was up 0.2% by late morning, having pared earlier gains of around 0.7%. Financial services added 2.2% while health care stocks fell 1.7%.
The European blue chip index closed 2.8% higher on Thursday after the release of the U.S. consumer price index , which sent major averages stateside to their biggest one-day rallies since 2020.
Markets are hoping the data could encourage the U.S. Federal Reserve to ease its aggressive monetary policy tightening.
U.S. stock futures rose early on Friday, pointing to further gains on Wall Street, with investors also keeping an eye on outstanding results from the U.S. midterm elections.
Investor optimism was boosted on Friday after China said it would ease some Covid measures, which sent Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index soaring more than 7% overnight.