Currency: Euro pressured by new disappointing figures

With another disappointing European figure in luggage investors Friday sends the euro down in value against both the dollar and the yen. Meanwhile the Swedish krona loses terrain after unexpectedly weak figures from the industry.

Stocks: Fiscal cliff also draws Europe down

The mood could be better on the stock exchanges in Europe in Friday's trading, where investors have pushed  optimism to the side. Instead, the focus is on the major challenges that policymakers are struggling with on both sides of the Atlantic.

In Europe the debt crisis continue to pull down, while Americans' concerns is whether Democrats and Republicans can agree in due time before the fiscal tightening with the entrance to 2013.