Europe open: EU open to free trade deal with UK before Brexit, with conditions

European stocks were on the backfoot in the last day of trading for the month and the quarter, with traders carefully parsing remarks from key politicians and decision-makers on both sides of the Channel as Brexit negotiations between the UK and the European Union got underway.

As of 1012 GMT the benchmark Stoxx 600 was drifting lower by 0.05% to 379.39, alongside a fall in the German dax of 0.28% to 12,240.37 and a similar retreat of 0.28% in the Cac-40 to 5,015.56.

Presenting the European Union's opening stance in negotiations with Britain, European Council president Donald Tusk said the bloc was open to the possibility of agreeing on a free trade deal even before the a final deal on Brexit was reached.

However, first the EU would ask that the UK show "sufficient progress" on its so-called divorce settlement.

Furthermore, the draft of the EU guidelines for negotiations indicated that any free trade deal should not be the equivalent to single market access and the bloc banned the possibility of bilateral talks between member states and Britain.

Against that backdrop, the single currency was rising 0.13% versus the US dollar to 1.0694 ahead of the preliminary estimate on Eurozone-wide consumer price inflation for March, at 1000 GMT.

Nonetheless, the key to Friday's session, quarter-end window-dressing from fund managers aside, would be the US PCE inflation data due out later in the day.

Calendar heavy with key data releases

On the economic calendar for Friday is the preliminary estimate on Eurozone-wide consumer price inflation for March, at 1000 GMT.

It will be followed later in the day by a barrage of data in the States, including reaadings on personal income and spending and inflation at 1330 GMT, followed by the Chicago PMI at 1445 GMT and the results of the University of Michigan's consumer confidence survey at 1500 GMT.

UK's fourth quarter 2016 gross domestic product and current account deficit data are also due out at 0930 GMT.

US set to slap anti-dumping levies on some steel product manufacturers

Shares in German steelmaker Salzgitter slipped after the US Department of Commerce ruled that sevend foreign firms had 'dumped' carbon and alloy steel products in the US, opening the way for it to slap duties on them ranging from between 3.62% to 148%.

France's Danone said it would sell its Stonyfield subsidiary in the States in order to clinch its take-over of Whitewave Foods.

Another French name, spirits-maker Pernod Ricard completed the sale of its Domecq Brandies & Wines unit to Emperador Group and Gonzalez Byass.