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EUROPE BEFORE THE BELL: FUTURES RISE
European futures are rising ahead of Friday's open, as oil prices pulled back after this week's surge, but the mini bounce will barely dent the STOXX 600's 4.6% drop so far this week.
The conflict in the Middle East is in its seventh day and continues to widen. U.S. President Donald Trump encouraged Iranian Kurdish forces in Iraq to launch attacks against Iran, while Azerbaijan warned it would retaliate for being targeted by Iranian missiles.
Euro STOXX 50 futures STXEc1 are up 0.9% as are DAX futures FDXc1 while FTSE FFIc1 are up 0.5%.
Oil prices fell 0.7% but remain 17% higher on the week.
Shipping group Maersk MAERSKb.CO said on Friday it will temporarily suspend its FM1 service that connects the Far East to the Middle East, and its ME11 service, which links the Middle East to Europe, .
In company news, Lufthansa LHAG.DE has reported better-than-expected 2025 results, while oil major Shell SHEL.L inked several oil agreements with the Venezuelan government on Thursday.
(Lucy Raitano)
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FOR FRIDAY'S OTHER LIVE MARKETS POSTS:
MIDDLE EAST TUMULT LEAVES MARKETS IN DISARRAY CLICK HERE
Iran conflict embeddable graphics: Attacks and counterattacks https://reut.rs/4bfzoG2
Middle East conflict rattles world stocks https://reut.rs/3OPeZiA
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