European stocks set for slightly higher open as investors await U.S. jobs report
- Economists expect U.S. nonfarm payrolls to have grown by 706,000 jobs in June, with the unemployment rate falling from 5.8% to 5.6%, according to a Dow Jones survey.
- Though the headline jobs figure is a key economic indicator, traders will likely be scrutinizing the change in average hourly earnings for any sudden uptick in wages.
European markets are heading for a cautiously higher open on Friday as investors look ahead to a closely-watched U.S. jobs report due later in the day.
Britain's FTSE 100 is seen around 18 points higher at 7,142, Germany's DAX is set to climb around 24 points to 15,628 and France's CAC 40 is expected to add around 18 points to 6,572, according to IG data.
The tepid open expected in Europe follows a mixed session in Asia-Pacific, where mainland Chinese and Hong Kong stocks pulled back sharply while other major markets made modest gains.
Stateside, stock futures were little changed in early premarket trade as investors looked ahead to the Labor Department's all-important monthly jobs report. Economists expect nonfarm payrolls to have grown by 706,000 jobs in June, with the unemployment rate falling from 5.8% to 5.6%, according to a Dow Jones survey.
Though the headline job creation figure is a key economic indicator, traders will likely be scrutinizing the change in average hourly earnings for any sudden uptick in wages. The average hourly wage is estimated to have jumped 0.3% on a month-over-month basis, and climbed 3.6% over the last 12 months.
Back in Europe, German retail sales figures for May are due before the bell, while May's euro zone producer prices data are expected at 10 a.m.
On Thursday, following two days of talks, 130 countries pledged support for the U.S. proposal of a global minimum corporate tax of 15%.
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In corporate news, Spain's Caixabank on Thursday announced that it would lay off 6,452 employees in the biggest staff overhaul in the history of the Spanish banking sector.
Meanwhile U.S. activist hedge fun Elliott is urging GlaxoSmithKline to review its leadership and consider selling some of its consumer healthcare business, having built up a considerable stake in the British pharmaceutical giant.
– CNBC's Thomas Franck contributed to this report.
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