(Bloomberg) -- Stocks were mixed Friday, with declines in European equities and US futures contrasting with gains in Asia, as investors studied the trajectory for interest rates.

Most Read from Bloomberg

• AOC Proposes $30 Billion Social Housing Authority

• The Moonshot Plan to Eliminate Deaths on America’s Roads

• California’s Anti-Speeding Bill Can Be a Traffic Safety Breakthrough

• New York City’s Transit System Plans $65.4 Billion of Upgrades for Grand Central, Subways

• To Build a Happier City, Design for Density

The Bank of Japan was in focus as it kept rates unchanged, with the yen weakening as Governor Kazuo Ueda sounded less hawkish than some traders expected. Ueda signaled little urgency to hike rates, and said that upside risks to inflation are easing.

Europe’s Stoxx 600 fell as Mercedes-Benz Group AG slumped as much as 8.4% after cutting its financial forecast. US equity futures edged lower after the S&P 500 notched its 39th record in 2024 and extended this year’s surge to about 20%. A gauge of Asian stocks climbed 0.6%.

The Federal Reserve’s bold 50-point rate cut this week has boosted confidence that it will be able to engineer a soft landing for the American economy. Projections from Fed policymakers reflect a potential further 1.5 percentage points of cuts by the end of next year.

“For all the optimism in markets right now, it’s clear that a few concerns still lie under the surface,” said Jim Reid, a strategist at Deutsche Bank AG. “In particular, futures are continuing to price in a more aggressive pace of cuts than was implied by the Fed’s dot plot on Wednesday, so investors think they might need to accelerate those rate cuts if downside risks materialize.”

Traders are also braced for a quarterly episode known as “triple witching” in which derivatives contracts tied to stocks, index options and futures will mature — potentially amplifying market moves. About $5.1 trillion are set to expire Friday, according to an estimate from derivatives analytical firm Asym 500.

The options expiry coincides with the rebalancing of benchmark indexes. The event has a reputation for causing sudden price moves as contracts disappear and traders roll over their existing positions or start new ones.

Treasury yields were little changed on Friday, while an index of dollar strength ticked higher. The pound gained after UK retail sales for August beat estimates, as consumers took advantage of sunny weather and summer discounts.

In China, the country is considering removing some of the largest remaining curbs on home purchases after previous measures failed to revive a moribund housing market, according to people familiar with the matter. That pushed up a Bloomberg gauge of Chinese developers.