European Stock Futures Largely Unchanged; U.S. Jobs Data in Focus By

By Peter Nurse 

Investing.com – European stock markets are expected to open largely unchanged Friday, with investors cautious ahead of the release of key U.S. jobs data which could provide fresh clues into the timing of Federal Reserve tapering.

At 2:15 AM ET (0615 GMT), the contract in Germany traded 0.1% higher, in France fell 0.1% and the contract in the U.K. traded largely unchanged.

The monthly official is scheduled for release later Friday, and is expected to show a rebound in the labor market, allowing the Federal Reserve to slow its massive bond-buying program. Wednesday’s strong release already hinted at robust job gains, although the correlation between the two reports has weakened during the pandemic.

The economy is expected to have added 500,000 jobs in September, a sharp jump from the 235,000 jobs added in August. 

European markets had received a positive handover from Asia after Chinese mainland markets reopened from a week-long holiday and the country’s services sector made a return to growth in September. The came in at 53.4 in September, compared with the previous month’s 46.7.

Wall Street also closed sharply higher Thursday on the back of the U.S. Senate approving legislation to temporarily raise the federal government’s debt limit and avoid the risk of a historic default.

In the corporate sector, Stellantis (DE:) will be in the spotlight after the auto giant announced it is considering spinning off the two biggest plants of its Opel unit, a move seen by unions as a preliminary to their permanent closure. The Eisenach plant has already been shut until the end of the year due to chip shortages.

Crude prices pushed higher once more Friday, heading for a seventh weekly gain, as doubts emerged over whether the U.S. Energy Department was considering releasing oil from the country’s strategic reserves.

The potential for the U.S. adding supply to the market had been floated Thursday as a method of curbing oil prices. These have climbed to multi-year highs on the back of signs of improved fuel demand as economic activity rebounds, OPEC producers only gradually increasing output as well as fears that a cold winter will further strain gas supplies.

By 2:15 AM ET, futures traded 1.6% higher at $79.53 a barrel, while the contract rose 1.3% to $83.05. Earlier in the week, WTI touched its highest in nearly seven years while hit a three-year high.

Additionally, edged higher to $1,759.55/oz, while traded 0.1% higher at 1.1547.