Live Markets-Before the bell: muted end to the week

Oil prices are retreating again, and this week's major central bank decisions are all behind us now, but even so, sentiment in Europe seems mostly downbeat to end the week.

European shares don't quite seem to be taking the hint from their counterparts in Asia which climbed overnight, with Euro STOXX 50 futures down 0.1%. CAC, DAX and FTSE futures are all down by around 0.2%.

Central bank action has certainly been the theme of the second half of the week, with the Federal Reserve hiking interest rates Wednesday, the Bank of England leaving them unchanged Thursday, and the Bank of Japan raising policy Friday. More is to come on the latter as BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda is due to speak shortly.

Oil prices meanwhile are still retreating: Brent crude futures are on track for their third consecutive daily decline - but even so, they are still sat comfortably above $100 a barrel.

Elsewhere, Sandoz Group said it received regulatory approval for generic semaglutide in Canada, and announced a collaboration with Mabxience to expand access to biosimilar medicines for patients.

French energy major TotalEnergies, meanwhile, on Friday said it had signed an agreement for BlackRock's Global Infrastructure Partners to invest in its African oil and gas infrastructure assets.