European equity markets are expected to remain cautious ahead of Powell's speech. The Eurostoxx 50 opens at 4,169.87 points with a decline of 0.27%, the CAC 40 at 6,666.03 points (-0.16%), the DAX 30 at 15,793.62 points (-0.42%), the FTSE 100 at 7,124.98 points (-0.35%), the SMI at 12,409.03 points (+0.36%), the AEX at 780.31 points (-0.21%), the BEL 20 at 4,311.35 points (-0.29%), the IBEX 35 at 8,892.70 points (-0.94%), the DJIA at 35,213.12 points (-0.54%), the Nasdaq at 14,945.81 points (-0.64%), the S&P 500 at 4,470.00 points (-0.58%) and the Nikkei 225 at 27,610.15 points down 0.48%.

Regarding the exchange rate, the change from the close in New York indicates that the EUR/USD opens at 1.1765 up 0.10%, the EUR/JPY at 129.31 down 0.08% and the USD/JPY at 109.90 with a decline of 0.17%. 

Caution should be exercised on Friday in European equity markets ahead of Jerome Powell's speech at the Federal Reserve's (Fed) annual conference in Jackson Hole, a speech during which the president of the US central bank could give clues about the Fed's plans. on the reduction of its stimulus measures. Around 7:40 a.m., the CAC 40 futures contract lost 7.8 points, or 0.1%, according to data from broker IG Markets. The DAX 30 contract was down 25.5 points, or 0.2%, and the FTSE 100 contract was up 3.7 points, or 0.1%. The New York Stock Exchange closed lower on Thursday, marking a pause from its previous day's highs as investors prepare for the annual Jackson Hole conference and the Federal Reserve chairman's speech scheduled for Friday. In Asia, the main stock market indices posted a mixed performance on Friday. At the end of the session, the Shanghai Composite gained 0.4%, the Hang Seng index gained 0.2% in Hong Kong and the Nikkei index of the Tokyo Stock Exchange lost 0.5%.

U.S. government bond yields fell slightly on Friday morning, after seeing their rise ease on Thursday due to the deteriorating situation in Kabul. The yield on the ten-year US government bond fell by 1.3 basis points to 1.344%.

The euro rose Friday morning against the dollar but fell against the Japanese currency, like the greenback. For Bank of America, the euro should nevertheless continue to weaken against the dollar as the European Central Bank (ECB) seems to be preparing to announce new quantitative easing (QE) measures, while the Fed will soon begin to reduce its asset purchases. The bank expects the euro to fall to $1.15 by the end of the year.

Oil prices are regaining ground Friday morning after their decline the day before, supported by concerns about a storm that could threaten U.S. oil infrastructure in the Gulf of Mexico. The storm, which is currently in the Caribbean, is about to move to the U.S. Gulf Coast over the weekend with the intensity of a hurricane, ING Bank said. Given that more than 50 percent of U.S. refining capacity is on the Gulf Coast, there are risks of significant disruptions to the supply of refined fuels, ING added. At 7:15 a.m., the October Contract for North Sea Brent gained 87 cents to $71.94 a barrel. The October contract for light sweet crude (WTI) listed on the Nymex was up 80 cents, at $68.22 a barrel.