European stocks open lower with EU tariff letter expected from White House

BP flags lower gas, oil sales and impairment of up to $1.5 billion

British oil major BP on Friday flagged lower oil and gas sales in the second quarter and an after-tax impairment of up to $1.5 billion across its portfolio.

In a trading update released ahead of full second-quarter results on Aug. 5, the energy company said its gas and low-carbon sales will hit earnings by between $100 million and $300 million over the April-June stretch, also noting “average” results from the company's gas trading arm.

Lower oil sales will meanwhile deliver a blow of between $600 million to $800 million over the period.

The firm said second-quarter results will also see “post-tax adjusting items relating to asset impairments in the range of $0.5 to 1.5 billion, attributable across the segments.”

In the oil products segment, BP said stronger realized refining margins would be in the range of $300 million to $500 million, and that “oil trading result is expected to be strong.”

BP has been struggling to recalibrate its strategic direction amid underperformance in its share price compared with oil and gas peers, particularly in the U.S. Speculation has been mounting in recent months over whether the company could become an acquisition target.

UK economy unexpectedly contracts again in May

The U.K. shrank 0.1% in May, a second monthly contraction, according to figures just out from the Office for National Statistics.

That's below the 0.1% expansion forecast by economists polled by Reuters, and will do little to shake off expectations for U.K. growth to be muted in the second half of the year.

European markets head for lower open, with tariffs in focus

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index notched a fourth daily gain on Thursday, but IG futures are pointing to a broadly negative open for major bourses on Friday.

The big news overnight is that U.S. President Donald Trump will lift tariffs on imports from Canada to 35% from Aug. 1, and warned that the duty might be increased if Ottawa retaliates. The rate is separate from sectoral tariffs placed on steel, aluminum and autos, and shortly copper.

Investors are also standing by in anticipation of the release of a letter from Trump in which he is expected to outline tariffs the European Union will face, after he told NBC News that he would be issuing tariffs “over the next couple of hours” to both the EU and Canada.