European stocks are poised to fall on Friday, with concerns of an artificial intelligence bubble, and the world economy rattling investor confidence.
London-based futures contracts related to the FTSE 100 index were observed to trade 0.5 percent lower, while others associated with the DAX index of German stocks were increased 0.2 percent.
Meanwhile, the French CAC 40 futures declined by 0.4 percent, and futures based on the Swiss SMI index down by 0.8 percent.
The economic slowdown in China intensified in October, and data indicated that the fixed asset investment, which encompasses the real estate sector that is closely monitored by the country, declined in the initial 10 months of the year.
However, the retail sales softened, and the growth of industrial output slowed as well. Investors are also suffering massive losses on Wall Street with concerns regarding the AI valuation and the direction in which the U.S. interest rates are heading.
The big tech stocks were especially severely affected, as the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.3 percent at the end of the day.
The chances of a central bank rate cut in December have been reevaluated by money markets in recent weeks following comments by Federal Reserve officials.
Friday morning, markets were putting a 52.1 percent probability of the Fed reducing by 25 basis points at its next meeting. Previous month, the market had attributed a 95 percent probability of a year-end cut.
Earlier in Europe, corporate earnings are expected to halt, with German insurer Allianz among the companies reporting on Friday.
Allianz reported that it had recorded record results during the first nine months of the year, which was enhanced by a double-digit surge in operating profit during the third quarter.
The three months to September operating profit increased by 12.6 percent to 4.4 billion euros ($5.1 billion), with the Property-Casualty unit of the firm contributing majorly to the growth.
The company reported that it only anticipates an operating profit of at least 17 billion euros this year, the higher side of its full-year guidance.
On the other side of the Atlantic, U.S. stock futures did not change much on Friday morning after a sell-off on Wall Street on Thursday.
In Asia, stocks dropped overnight as investors tracked moves on Wall Street and responded to the Chinese figures.
