European stocks open mixed as investor attention turns to Trump-Xi call

European equities were mixed in early trade on Friday, with major indexes struggling to gain momentum.

The pan-European Stoxx 600^[1] was flat by 8:25 a.m. in London (3:25 a.m. ET), with sectors mixed.

Regional shares ended Thursday’s session higher, putting the Stoxx 600 index on course to end the week unchanged.

U.S. President Donald Trump, who made a state visit to the U.K.^[2] this week, is expected to speak^[3] with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in a call on Friday. It comes after U.S. and Chinese negotiators reached a framework deal^[4] on TikTok’s U.S. business at talks in Madrid, Spain, this week.

Monetary policy has remained in focus this week, with the Federal Reserve cutting its key interest rate^[5] on Wednesday and the Bank of England holding rates steady^[6] the following day. Norway and Canada’s central banks also trimmed their core interest rates this week.

Traders will also be watching German PPI data, a U.K. retail sales print and a French business confidence update on Friday.

In the U.K., the latest data out Friday showed that government borrowing surged in recent months^[7], with public sector rising by £11.4 billion ($15.4 billion) more than projected between April and August. It marked the second-highest public sector borrowing for that period since records began in 1993, with only 2020 — the height of the Covid-19 pandemic — notching a higher April to August borrowing bill.

U.K. government borrowing costs rose in the wake of the data release, with the yield on longer-maturity 20 and 30-year^[8] gilts adding 4 and 5 basis points, respectively.

Overnight in Asia, stocks traded mostly higher^[9], with investors reacting to the Bank of Japan making no changes to interest rates. On Wall Street, U.S. stock futures were flat^[10] after the major averages hit fresh all-time highs on Thursday.