By Peter Nurse 

- European stock markets are expected to open largely unchanged Friday, consolidating after withstanding the shock of a sharp rise in U.S. inflation, helped by generally positive corporate earnings.

At 2:05 AM ET (0705 GMT), the DAX futures contract in Germany traded 0.1% higher, while CAC 40 futures in France dropped 0.1% and the FTSE 100 futures contract in the U.K. fell 0.1%.

European markets closed higher on Thursday, showing underlying strength in coping with a surprisingly strong reading on U.S. inflation, which raised the possibility of the Federal Reserve bringing forward plans to lift interest rates.  

The U.S. consumer price index rose 6.2% year-on-year in October, official data showed on Wednesday, the strongest advance since November 1990.

Helping the tone were gains in Asia overnight, aided by signs of consumer confidence as Chinese e-commerce giants Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) and JD.com (NASDAQ:JD) set new sales records across their platforms on Singles Day, the world's largest shopping event.

Back in Europe, supporting the resilience of the main indices has been the overall strength of the quarterly earnings season in Europe. 

This has continued Friday, with Deutsche Telekom (OTC:DTEGY) reporting core profit above market estimates, raising its full-year outlook for the third time, boosted by its U.S. unit T-Mobile, along with growth in European business.

Swiss luxury goods group Richemont (SIX:CFR) reported a healthy jump in its net profit in the first half of its fiscal year, beating forecasts, but remained cautious for the coming months, citing inflation and geopolitical tensions.

The European economic calendar centers around Eurozone industrial production data for September, while the U.K. and the European Union are due to enter new negotiations over trade arrangements in Northern Ireland, in an attempt to avoid a potential trade war.

Crude prices weakened Friday, weighed by the continued strength of the U.S. dollar which makes the commodity more expensive for non-U.S. buyers.

The release of the Baker Hughes rig count and CFTC positioning data round off a volatile week in the oil market, while eyes will also be on Glasgow as the U.N. climate summit enters its final day. 

By 2:05 AM ET, U.S. crude futures traded 0.8% lower at $80.94 a barrel, while the Brent contract fell 0.9% to $82.12. Both contracts are on course to record losses of around 0.7% this week.

Additionally, gold futures fell 0.1% to $1,862.00/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.1% lower at 1.1442.