12:30 PM EDT, 09/26/2024 (MT Newswires) -- While eurozone equity stock markets made solid gains and German consumer confidence unexpectedly picked up on Thursday, Bunds were little changed as eurozone bank lending remained relatively subdued, said Daiwa Capital Markets.

The European Commission survey Friday will also provide an update on economic conditions at the end of Q3, noted the bank. National business surveys have provided mixed messages, with the improvement in Thursday's Italian ISTAT headline index and modest pickup last week in the French INSEE indices contrasting with the further significant deterioration implied by the German Ifo indicators.

Overall, while the Commission's headline economic sentiment indicator is expected to move broadly sideways at August's eight-month high of 96.6, this would still remain some 3.5% below the long-run average, pointed out Daiwa. Other releases due Friday include German labor market numbers for September and French consumer spending figures for August.

Gilts made modest losses at the longer end on a quiet day for United Kingdom economic news, added the bank.

Friday's release of the CBI's distributive trades survey will provide an update on retailing conditions at the end of Q3. While the headline sales balance in August largely reversed the slump recorded in July of -43%, a net 27% of retailers still reported that sales volumes were down compared with a year. With retail footfall trending in the first two weeks of September more than 5% below the August average and consumer confidence having fallen sharply in September, retailers might well report persisting weakness this month, added Daiwa.

Admittedly, the findings of Friday's survey might be viewed with some skepticism, having failed to signal the return to positive growth in the official retail sales figures in August, which recorded the strongest annual sales growth -- of 2.5% year over year --since February 2022.