European Stock Futures Lower; BNP Paribas, NatWest Lead Earnings Deluge

European Stock Futures Lower; BNP Paribas, NatWest Lead Earnings Deluge

© Reuters.

By Peter Nurse 

Investing.com - European stock markets are expected to open lower Friday, weighed by more losses in Asia overnight and ahead of important growth data and more corporate earnings.

At 2:05 AM ET (0605 GMT), the contract in Germany traded 0.5% lower, in France dropped 0.5% and the contract in the U.K. fell 0.6%.

European markets have received a negative handover from Asia, with the in Hong Kong dropping around 2% as the tech sector resumed its selloff amid concerns over excessive Chinese government regulatory interference. 

The Hang Seng slumped more than 8% in two days of heavy selling early this week before bouncing back 3% in Thursday’s session.

Also weighing on sentiment Friday was a disappointing earnings report from Amazon (NASDAQ:) after the close on Wall Street Thursday. The e-commerce giant missed quarterly revenue expectations for the first time in three years while providing weak guidance for the current quarter.

Back in Europe, BNP Paribas (OTC:) will be in the spotlight Friday after the French bank reported a 26% rise in net income in the second quarter and agreed to pay an additional dividend, helped by a rebound of domestic