Morning Bid: Spotlight on CPI before APEC whirlwind

A look at the day ahead in European and global markets from Rocky Swift

Friday brings a moment of calm before the storm. A host of summits, earnings and central bank events loom next week.

The focus before the weekend will be U.S. consumer price data for September, a lone economic light shining through the darkness of the second-longest U.S. government shutdown. So far.

Coming in from furlough, Bureau of Labor officials are expected to say that the U.S. core consumer price index held steady at 3.1%, a reading that's unlikely to impact a widely anticipated rate cut from the Federal Reserve next week.

Then begins a whirlwind of leaders' meetings centred around the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit, including a planned face-to-face between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea.

Markets were soothed by a White House announcement of the meeting, amid escalating tensions between the economic superpowers and a Nov. 1 deadline for an additional 100% U.S. tariff to be imposed on Chinese imports.

But proving every silver lining has a cloud, Trump took to social media to pick another fight with Canada, declaring that trade negotiations with America's northern neighbour were "TERMINATED."

European equity futures signal a steady start to markets.

Oil and gold settled down after a volatile week. Asian stocks gained following an earnings beat by Intel and a positive Wall Street close.

The earnings calendar is light today, but next week brings a deluge, with five of the Magnificent Seven reporting results, including Apple and Microsoft.

Newly elected Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is due to speak later in the session as her government reportedly considers a sizable stimulus package and just days away from her first meeting with Trump.

Friday data showed Japan's core consumer prices remained above the central bank's 2% target, keeping alive expectations of a near-term interest rate hike ahead of a Bank of Japan policy meeting next week.

Key developments that could influence markets on Friday:

- U.S. earnings: Procter & Gamble, HCA Healthcare, General Dynamics

- Europe earnings: Saab AB, Sanofi

- U.S. data: core CPI for September, S&P Global flash PMIs for October, University of Michigan final print of October consumer sentiment

- Europe data: Britain retail sales for September, France consumer confidence for October

- Flash PMIs for Euro Zone, France, Germany, and Britain

(By Rocky Swift in Tokyo; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)