Global stocks are flat on Friday, holding near record and capping their best week in over two months with bets on a gradual Fed rate hike path and hopes for a strong earnings season boosting risk appetite.

U.S. stock futures pointed to a slightly lower open on Wall Street as market players were cautious ahead of bank earnings and a slew of data.

European shares were poised for their best week since late April, though investors showed caution ahead of key references.

London's FTSE 100 led decliners among major stock market indices, falling around 0.3% as a stronger pound put pressure on exporters and investors opted to take profit at the end of a positive week.

Earlier, Asian stocks also showed muted trade with Japan’s Nikkei ending up just 0.09% and China’s Shanghai Composite closing 0.13% higher.

Market participants will also keep a close eye on consumer data on Friday as spending represents roughly 70% of the U.S. economy.

The Commerce Department will publish data on June retail sales alongside the inflation figures at 12:30 GMT. The consensus forecast is that the report will show retail sales rose 0.1% last month. Core sales are forecast to inch up 0.2%.

Rising retail sales over time correlate with stronger economic growth, while weaker sales signal a declining economy

Then at 14:00 GMT, the University of Michigan will release its preliminary reading of consumer sentiment for July.

Oil continued its rally for a fifth straight day on Friday, heading for weekly gains of nearly 5%.

Supporting bullish sentiment in crude this week, U.S. crude inventories registered a larger-than-expected draw and investors cheered data pointing to an increase in demand for oil from China as imports increased 13.8% to 8.55m bpd during the first six months of the year, compared to the same period a year ago.

That outweighed the bearish news that OPEC compliance on the agreement to extend production cuts with non-OPEC members led by Russia by 1.8 million barrels per day through March 2018 hit 78%, its lowest level in six months.

Market participants will keep an eye on increasing U.S. shale production when Baker Hughes releases its most recent weekly rig count data later on Friday.

The energy services company said last week that U.S. drillers had added seven oil rigs, marking a 24th week of increases out of the last 25.

The “unofficial” start of the second quarter (Q2) earnings season will begin on Friday with JP Morgan’s report at approximately 11:00 GMT.

With only 26 of the S&P 500 firms having reported so far, the JP Morgan will be the first Dow component to release earnings on Friday in what will be a big day for bank shares.

Wells Fargo and Citigroup will also step up to the plate ahead of the open with their own earnings releases at approximately 12:00 GMT.