A look at the day ahead in European and global markets from Rocky Swift

Friday brings a moment of calm before the storm. A host of summits, earnings and central bank events loom next week.

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The focus before the weekend will be U.S. consumer price data for September, a lone economic light shining through the darkness of the second-longest U.S. government shutdown. So far.

Coming in from furlough, Bureau of Labor officials are expected to say that the U.S. core consumer price index held steady at 3.1%, a reading that's unlikely to impact a widely anticipated rate cut from the Federal Reserve next week.

Then begins a whirlwind of leaders' meetings centred around the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit, including a planned face-to-face between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea.

Markets were soothed by a White House announcement of the meeting, amid escalating tensions between the economic superpowers and a Nov. 1 deadline for an additional 100% U.S. tariff to be imposed on Chinese imports.

But proving every silver lining has a cloud, Trump took to social media to pick another fight with Canada, declaring that trade negotiations with America's northern neighbour were "TERMINATED."

European equity futures signal a steady start to markets.

Oil and gold settled down after a volatile week. Asian stocks gained following an earnings beat by Intel (INTC.O) , opens new tab and a positive Wall Street close.

The earnings calendar is light today, but next week brings a deluge, with five of the Magnificent Seven reporting results, including Apple (AAPL.O) , opens new tab and Microsoft (MSFT.O) , opens new tab.

Newly elected Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is due to speak later in the session as her government reportedly considers a sizable stimulus package and just days away from her first meeting with Trump.

Friday data showed Japan's core consumer prices remained above the central bank's 2% target, keeping alive expectations of a near-term interest rate hike ahead of a Bank of Japan policy meeting next week.

Key developments that could influence markets on Friday:

- U.S. earnings: Procter & Gamble, HCA Healthcare, General Dynamics

- Europe earnings: Saab AB, Sanofi

- U.S. data: core CPI for September, S&P Global flash PMIs for October, University of Michigan final print of October consumer sentiment

- Europe data: Britain retail sales for September, France consumer confidence for October

- Flash PMIs for Euro Zone, France, Germany, and Britain

https://www.reuters.com/world/china/global-markets-view-europe-2025-10-24/