European markets set for lower open after Fed Chair Powell comments – NBC Los Angeles

This is CNBC’s live blog covering European markets.

LONDON — European markets are set to retreat on Friday morning after U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank is “not confident” it has done enough to rein in inflation.

Powell said Thursday that he and fellow policymakers were encouraged by the recent slowdown in inflation rates, but were not yet confident they had achieved a monetary policy stance that is “sufficiently restrictive to bring inflation down to 2 percent over time.”

The Fed last week held rates unchanged, along with the Bank of England and the European Central Bank, with markets now turning their attention to when rate cuts will begin next year — a position central bankers have tentatively pushed back against.

Shares in Asia-Pacific fell on Friday after the S&P 500 in the U.S. snapped an eight-day winning streak on the back of Powell’s comments and spiking Treasury yields. Stock futures stateside pointed to a fractionally higher open on Wall Street Friday.

European shares closed Thursday’s session up 0.8% after a boost from a strong set of corporate earnings reports, which will likely continue to drive individual share price action Friday.

Here are the opening calls

Britain’s FTSE 100 is seen around 42 points lower at 7,414, Germany’s DAX is set to shed around 93 points to 15,260 and France’s CAC 40 is expected to drop around 47 points to 7,067.

— Elliot Smith

CNBC Pro: Eli Lilly and more: Strategist names 5 stocks set for ‘significant’ earnings growth

Rising rates and the possibility of a recession on the horizon have created a “mixed picture” for equity markets, according to one strategist — but several companies can look forward to markedly stronger earnings growth in the next year.

“When you look at what companies are saying about next year, they’re not really being overly cautious or overly bullish … So, you get a sense that into next year, earnings will be robust in terms of steady year-on-year [growth],” Rahul Ghosh, portfolio specialist, equity division at T. Rowe Price, told “Street Signs Asia” on Thursday.

“But, if you’re looking for significant earnings expansion, I suspect, at a market level, that’s probably less likely. You really have to dig into individual companies and sectors.”

Ghosh is looking favorably at three sectors — and named some of his favorite stocks.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Amala Balakrishner

CNBC Pro: China versus India: The pros explain why they prefer one — and share their stock picks

Which economic giant should emerging markets investors go for: China or India?

CNBC Pro spoke to experts to ask which is the better market to invest in — and found that they were overwhelmingly in favor of one of them.

Subscribers can read about the reasons and stock picks they gave here.

— Weizhen Tan