Europe lower as markets eye Yellen; Philips Lighting rises at IPO 

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index opened 0.2 percent lower on Friday. Basic resources and health care were the only sectors to open in positive territory. Investors will be watching the first day of trading of Philips Lighting business on Friday. Philips set pricing in the initial public offering (IPO) of its lighting arm at 20 euros per share and the Amsterdam-listed shares of the company rose at the open to trade at 21 euros per share. The initial offer price indicated a market capitalization of 3 billion euros for the unit.

The chief executive of Philips Lighting told CNBC that the listing represented an historic day for Philips and that it would expand “its leadership in LED lighting.”

The best performer on the Stoxx 600 index was Roche, up 3.75 percent, following positive results in its trials of drug Gazyva. The worst performer was Banco Popular, down 7 percent after announcing a rights issue yesterday.

Markets in Asia were mostly higher on the final trading day of the week as traders awaited direction from the U.S. Federal Reserve’s chief.

Yellen is expected to answer questions Friday afternoon in the U.S. as she receives an award at Harvard University.

Investors are also keeping an eye on oil prices, which topped $50 a barrel on Thursday to hit their highest in intraday trade since early October. By Friday, however, oil futures dipped in early Asian trade as investors worried higher prices could reactivate shuttered crude output, adding to global oversupply.

In other news, Group of Seven (G-7) leaders meeting in Ise-Shima, Japan, expressed concern on Friday about risks to the world economy, including weak growth, and pledged to tackle economic, geopolitical and humanitarian challenges.

In a statement ending a two-day G-7 summit in central Japan, the leaders also committed to avoiding “competitive devaluation” of their currencies and warned against “disorderly” exchange-rate moves.

The move represents a compromise between Japan, which has threatened to intervene to block sharp yen rises, and the U.S., which generally opposes market intervention, Reuters noted.