European equity markets were set to open higher on Friday as softer-than-expected US inflation data eased concerns over an imminent Federal Reserve interest rate hike. Renewed demand for artificial intelligence-related stocks also supported broader risk sentiment across global markets. In Europe, investors will focus on the latest Eurozone GDP, employment and trade data, alongside German wholesale prices and French inflation figures. Meanwhile, no major earnings reports are scheduled in Europe on Friday. In premarket trading, futures for the Euro Stoxx 50 and Stoxx 600 were both up around 0.2%.