MARKET WRAPS

Stocks:

European shares rose Friday, extending gains logged a day earlier, as investors looked at corporate earnings and held on to hope companies could withstand tariffs and shifting trade policy.

The rise also reflected the performance of most Asia-Pacific markets after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq climbed to new records Thursday on positive U.S. macro data.

European energy companies posted gains with BP, Shell, TotalEnergies and Repsol among the risers as oil prices increased.

Both oil benchmarks climbed on concerns over drone strikes on oilfields in Iraq and on fresh EU sanctions targeting Russia's energy sector.

The bloc's sanctions include a ban on the Nord Stream pipelines and a lower oil-price cap, according to the EU's Kaja Kallas in a post on X.

Due is data on eurozone construction output for May.

Market Insight

European wholesale banks, meanwhile, were expected to report slower trading revenue growth than their U.S. counterparts, Citi said, pointing to regional and business mix as well as other trends.

U.S. Markets:

Stock futures rose, setting the stage for the week to end on a high, after better-than-expected retail sales, weekly jobless claims and corporate earnings buoyed investor sentiment.

Forex:

The euro gained against the dollar after reaching a three-and-a-half week low Thursday.

ING said it expects the euro to fall in the near term as the market prices out expectations of a Fed cut to interest rates in September.

The dollar fell against a basket of currencies, declining after reaching a three-and-a-half-week high in the previous session.

Bonds:

Eurozone bond yields edged higher as solid corporate earnings lifted sentiment and dented demand for safe-haven assets.

The 10-year French-German bond yield spread has widened over the past weeks but it was expected to stay stable during the summer, Societe Generale said.

The short end of the euro bond curve is still driven by European Central Bank expectations , Bank of America said.

"However 10-year yields seem to factor in some significant optimism on the fiscal change in Germany and European defence spending, in terms of their structural impact on medium term growth," it said.

"Political and budgetary uncertainty in the U.S., U.K. and Japan are adding to the steepening pressures."

The ECB was expected to leave the door open for an interest-rate cut in September, Citi said, adding this would let investors focus on the scale of further cuts.

The 10-year Treasury yield fell and Commerzbank said it expects slightly lower 10-year Treasury and Bund yields by the end of the third quarter.

Rates remain elevated across the Treasury curve, providing fixed-income investors with attractive coupons , Federated Hermes said.

"It's hard to believe that we're now more than three years from the beginning of the Federal Reserve's dramatic rate-tightening cycle in response to not-so-transitory inflation."

Yields on gilts modestly rose along with their eurozone counterparts as investors' appetite for risk improved.

Metals:

Gold futures rose but were on track for a small weekly loss. Stronger jobless claims and retail sales in the U.S. have left markets cautious ahead of the next Fed meeting, MUFG said.

Spot gold prices rose and Comex gold futures were likely to continue to consolidate, RHB Retail Research said, adding the metal will probably continue moving sideways.

Energy:

Crude prices rose but tariff uncertainty and a possible oil supply glut mean markets have not erased losses earlier in the week.

EMEA HEADLINES

Reckitt Benckiser to Sell Essential Home Business in $4.8 Billion Deal

Consumer-goods company Reckitt Benckiser agreed to sell its essential home business to private equity investor Advent International in a deal that values the division at up to $4.8 billion.

The U.K. company has been pursuing a major overhaul of its portfolio to sharpen its focus on core brands like Lysol, Dettol and Strepsils. The plan involves exiting a portfolio of household brands such as Air Wick, Mortein, Calgon and Cillit Bang and a review of options for its baby formula maker Mead Johnson Nutrition, which together account for almost a third of the group's revenue.

Saab Raises Full-Year Sales Guidance as Defense Spending Continues to Rise

STOCKHOLM-Saab raised full-year sales guidance after second-quarter earnings beat expectations, boosted by a strong performance at its missile systems and ground combat weapons unit.

Global defense spending has surged following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, with nations donating military equipment to boost Ukraine's capabilities while also restocking their own domestic arsenals. A shifting stance from the U.S. administration toward its military support of Europe and a recently agreed pledge from North Atlantic Treaty Organization members to spend 5% of GDP on defense is also driving continued investment in the sector.

Burberry Reports Sales Improvement as Turnaround Strategy Boosts Recovery

Burberry said it saw an improvement in sales, as the British group pushes ahead with its brand revamp strategy in a tough backdrop for luxury brands due to weak demand.

The trench-coat maker on Friday booked retail revenue of 433 million pounds ($581 million) for its fiscal first quarter ended June 28. Comparable store sales dropped 1% on year. The decline was lower than consensus estimates of a 3% fall, according to a company-compiled poll of analysts' forecasts.

German Startup Wants to Regrow Europe's 'Spine' With AI Fighter Pilots, Drone Walls

MUNICH-Inside an unassuming redbrick building tucked beside railroad tracks in the Bavarian capital, engineers behind doors marked "maximum security" toil on drone prototypes, flight simulators and lines of code they believe will shape the next era of warfare.

Helsing, a 4-year-old artificial-intelligence defense startup, has quietly emerged as one of Europe's fastest-growing companies-and a poster child for a continent urgently re-engineering its defense in an era of fracturing alliances.

Boeing to Sell Up to 18 Dreamliner Jets to Gulf Air

Boeing plans to sell up to 18 of its 787 Dreamliner jets to Gulf Air.

The jet maker said Thursday it has agreed to sell 12 of the jets, with options for six more.

Iran Is Moving to Rearm Its Militia Allies

Iran suffered a significant setback when Israel killed top military leaders and the U.S. struck its nuclear facilities, but a pattern of high-value weapons seizures shows Tehran is making new efforts to arm its militia allies across the Middle East.

Forces allied with Yemen's internationally recognized government this week intercepted a major shipment of missiles, drone parts and other military gear sent to Houthi rebels on the Red Sea coast. Syria's new government says it has seized a number of weapons cargoes, including Grad rockets-for use in multiple-launch systems mounted on trucks-along its borders with Iraq and Lebanon.

Israel's Red Lines in Syria Are Drawing It Deeper Into Conflict

DUBAI-As Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria was collapsing late last year, Israel took the opportunity to destroy the military capabilities of one of its oldest enemies.

Since then, it has increased its demands on the new regime, insisting on a demilitarized zone south of Damascus and promising to intervene militarily if needed to protect the Druze minority who live on both sides of the border.

GLOBAL NEWS

Fed Gov. Waller Makes the Case for Cutting Interest Rates in 2 Weeks

Federal Reserve Gov. Christopher Waller on Thursday called for the central bank to cut interest rates at its July meeting, breaking ranks with Chair Jerome Powell and staking out the most forceful case yet for easing policy this summer.

"I believe it makes sense to cut the [Fed's] policy rate by 25 basis points two weeks from now," Waller began his speech to the Money Marketeers of New York University. "The risks to the economy are weighted toward cutting sooner rather than later."

The Global Risks That Come With the Loss of an Independent Fed

President Trump's threat to attempt to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has raised a pressing but potentially unanswerable question: What would the global economy and financial markets look like without an independent U.S. central bank?

Shielded from White House interference, the independent Fed has increasingly served as an anchor for U.S. and global markets, stepping in to steady the ship during the 2008-09 financial crisis, the Covid pandemic and other shocks of recent years. Economists credit the central bank's ability to help keep things stable in large part to its power to make moves it deems necessary, regardless of politics.

Japan Inflation Eases, But BOJ Still Faces Policy Challenges

TOKYO-A slight easing in Japan's consumer inflation is welcome news for the central bank, but stubbornly high food prices will be of concern for policymakers whose hands remain tied by tariffs.

Core consumer prices, which excludes volatile fresh food prices, rose 3.3% from a year earlier in June, government data showed Friday. That compared with May's 3.7% rise, and matched the forecast in a poll of economists by data provider Quick.

Congress Approves Trump's Plan Clawing Back Foreign Aid, Public Media Funding

WASHINGTON-The GOP-controlled Congress canceled $9 billion in federal spending for foreign aid and public broadcasting, following through on President Trump's efforts to defund the programs and overcoming some resistance among Republican lawmakers.

The House passed the Trump administration's plan, 216-213 early Friday. Two Republicans voted no with the Democrats: Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Mike Turner of Ohio. The Senate had passed it in the early hours of Thursday morning, 51-48, also largely along party lines, with Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska joining Democrats in opposition.

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July 18, 2025 04:57 ET (08:57 GMT)

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