DAX Gains Ahead Of Eurozone Inflation Data

(RTTNews) - German stocks traded higher on Friday following a hawkish pause from the U.S. Federal Reserve and a 25-basis-point rate hike by the European Central Bank this week.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has called for the European Central Bank (ECB) to further tighten its policy in view of strong euro-area consumer price growth. Euro zone final inflation data for May is due later in the day.

The benchmark DAX was up 37 points, or 0.2 percent, at 16,327 after declining 0.1 percent in the previous session.

Asian markets closed mostly higher earlier in the day, buoyed by bets on additional Chinese stimulus and the Bank of Japan's decision to leave its ultra-easy policy settings unchanged.

U.S. stock futures were lower as investors braced for the quarterly expiration of index futures and the rebalancing of benchmark indexes such as the S&P 500.