European shares were set to track U.S. and Asian markets higher on Friday and break a three-day losing run as the euro and crude oil traded well below record levels hit in recent sessions.
Bookmakers expected the FTSE 100 to open up 14-25 points, Germany's DAX up 24-41 points and France's CAC up 8-18 points.
With the European corporate diary thin, investors were expected to look to results from General Electric in the United States for direction.
Thursday's trading was dominated by the interest rate decisions from the Bank of England and the European Central Bank, both of which came in line with market expectations.
The ECB left its base rate on hold at 4% due to its ongoing anti-inflationary stance, while the BoE cut its key rate by 25 basis points to 5.0%.