Europe open: Stoxx gains as volatility eases; Eyes on Warsh for Fed job

(Sharecast News) - European shares opened higher on Friday as volatility eased for the time being and investors eyed reports that US President Donald Trump had selected Kevin Warsh to head the Federal Reserve.

The pan-regional Stoxx 600 index was up 0.12% to 607.88 at 0809 GMT. Germany's DAX, France's CAC 40 and Italy's MIB were all higher, while the UK's FTSE 100 slipped 0.12%.

Former Fed governor Warsh, who sat on the central bank's policymaking committee for five years during through the financial crash of 2008 and its aftermath, emerged as the front runner to succeed Jerome Powell.

"Back then, he was a renowned hawk, however, he has recently aligned himself with President Trump and called for lower interest rates. He was also in favour of shrinking the Fed's balance sheet when he was on the FOMC, which the Fed recently stopped," said XTB Research director Kathleen Brooks.

"This is an interesting pick from the President and may give the market some hope that Fed independence will be preserved by elevating a former Fed insider. US Treasury yields are higher in early trading, as the market focuses on Warsh's hawkish past."

The dollar also made gains after a battering this week, aided and abetted by Trump's comments that he was happy with its weak level. The greenback stood at $1.3772 against the pound but slipped slightly against the euro to $1.19.

Gold prices retreated sharply, down 6.5% to $5,169 after nearly hitting $5,600 on Thursday while silver slumped 9% to $106.58.

"In the short term, the correlation between gold and the dollar is strong, so as the dollar strengthens and the dollar 'debasement' trade gets scaled back, this could weigh on gold and silver prices," XTB's Brooks said.

Oil prices also slipped after Venezuela's government gave in to US pressure and signed a bill opening the country's nationalised oil industry to privatisation, paving the way for American firms to take a foothold. Brent crude was down 1.44% to $69.69 a barrel.

In equity news, shares in Adidas jumped after the of German sportswear company said its sales hit a record in 2025 and added it would launch a share buyback of up �1bn. Sector rival Puma also gained on the news.

Swatch shares jumped on results, as did Spain's CaixaBank which lifted estimate after reported net profit beat expectations.

Signify slumped as the world's biggest lights maker announced �180m in cost cuts affecting 900 jobs worldwide, and a broad strategic review under its new chief executive, after weaker-than-expected annual results.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com