European stocks set for mixed open, on course for positive week ahead of U.S. payrolls

Key Points

• Stock markets in Europe are on course for a positive week after a 2% bounce on Thursday built on gains from the previous session.
• Focus for global investors on Friday will turn stateside to the June employment report, which is expected to show another strong month of hiring.

LONDON — European markets are set for a muted open on Friday as investors await a key jobs report out of the U.S. that will be closely watched by the Federal Reserve.

Britain’s FTSE 100 is seen around 19 points lower at 7,170, Germany’s DAX is set to fall by around 23 points to 12,820 and France’s CAC 40 is expected to slip around 9 points to 5,998.

Stock markets in Europe are on course for a positive week after a 2% bounce on Thursday built on gains from the previous session.

Sterling steadied at around the $1.2 mark on Friday morning, having appreciated modestly on Thursday as U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that he would step down after more than 50 resignations from his government.

Global investors on Friday will turn their focus stateside to the June employment report, which is expected to show another strong month of hiring as the labor market bucks any signs of an impending recession or economic slowdown.

Economists predict that the U.S. economy added 250,000 jobs last month, keeping the unemployment rate flat at 3.6%. The Fed is closely watching the labor market alongside inflation prints as it charts its course for monetary policy tightening, a central factor in the market’s assessment of the likelihood of recession.

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U.S. stock futures were slightly lower in early premarket trade on Friday following a rally on Wall Street during the previous session, which saw the S&P 500 post a four-day positive streak.

Shares in Asia-Pacific were mostly higher on Friday, but Japanese stocks gave back some earlier gains and the yen rose on news that former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had been critically injured after a shooting at a campaign event.

On the data front in Europe, French balance of trade and current account and Italian industrial production figures for May are due Friday morning, while European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde is due to deliver a speech in the early afternoon.

Source : CNBC