FX.co ★ European Stocks Set for Higher Open

European equity markets were poised to open higher on Friday as investors continued to weigh the impact of the war in the Middle East and heightened volatility in oil prices. The US-Israeli conflict with Iran showed no signs of abating, with crude prices surging after Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, vowed to keep the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed while Tehran stepped up attacks on regional energy and transport infrastructure. The Trump administration issued a second waiver allowing buyers to take delivery of Russian oil cargoes already at sea and signaled it was considering easing shipping regulations in an effort to relieve mounting price pressures. In Europe, investors will parse UK GDP, German wholesale inflation, and Eurozone industrial production data, as well as final consumer inflation readings from France and Spain. No major earnings reports are on the calendar. In premarket trading, Euro Stoxx 50 and Stoxx 600 futures were both up around 0.2%.