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Investing.com - European stocks rose Friday, continuing to push higher as investors await news out of the meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss a potential ceasefire in Ukraine.
At 03:45 ET (07:45 GMT), the DAX index in Germany climbed 0.5%, the CAC 40 in France gained 0.5% and the FTSE 100 in the U.K. rose 0.1%.
Additionally, the pan-European STOXX 600 index gained 0.3%, trading near a two-week intraday high, boosted by generally corporate earnings.
Alaska meeting in spotlight
Trump and Putin are set to hold talks in Alaska later in the session to try and negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine, their first face-to-face talks since Trump returned to the White House.
The conflict has raged for over three years, and has severely disrupted the global supply chain, resulting in inflated commodity prices and the associated difficult economic consequences.
“President Trump has defined this as a ‘feel-out’ meeting and said there will likely be talks with European allies and Ukraine after this summit,” said analysts at ING, in a note. “This suggests that while we could see some draft plan for a ceasefire tonight, markets may treat it with some caution.”
U.S. retail sales the main data release
The economic data slate is empty in Europe Friday, which means this particular spotlight will be on the release of U.S. retail sales later in the session.
A larger than expected jump in producer prices in July caused investors to reconsider the possible extent of monetary easing by the Federal Reserve this year, and evidence of how American consumers are holding up will add to the mix.
Traders are still pricing in an over 90% probability of a 25 basis point rate cut at the Federal Reserve’s September meeting, but the market has now given up on hopes of a jumbo 50 basis point rate cut.
Pandora warns of potential tariffs hit
Looking at the corporate sector, Pandora (CSE:PNDORA) warned that U.S. tariffs could reduce its 2025 earnings substantially, while also lowering its EBIT margin forecast to around 24% from about 24.5% due to commodity and currency headwinds.
The Danish jewelry company, however, maintained its full-year guidance despite flagging continued weakness in China.
Finnish electric services company Fortum ’s (HE:FORTUM) operating profit fell sharply in the second quarter of 2025, as lower hydro inflows and extended nuclear outages reduced power generation.
VZ Holding (SIX:VZN) Group said revenue growth for 2025 will fall below its long-term average as lower interest rates are expected to slow performance in the second half of the year, even as the Swiss financial services company reported higher earnings for the first half.
Crude lower ahead of Ukraine summit
Oil prices edged lower Friday, with traders cautious on how an upcoming meeting between U.S. and Russian leaders in Alaska will affect global supply.
At 03:45 ET, Brent futures slipped 0.5% to $66.50 a barrel, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 0.6% to $63.58 a barrel.
Both contracts jumped nearly 2% on Thursday, but were still headed for a flat weekly end.
All eyes are on Friday’s meeting of Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin where a ceasefire in the Ukraine war is at the top of the agenda. A continued conflict between Russia and Ukraine supports oil markets by limiting the supply of Russian oil.