European stocks were expected to open higher on Friday after hitting a five-week high by Thursday's close, following encouraging private sector jobs data in the US and ahead of the government's crucial non-farm payroll report on Friday.
The FTSE is expected to open 12 points higher on Friday to 6067, Germany’s DAX is predicted to be up by 20 points to 7491 and the CAC 40 in France is called 2 points higher at 3982.
London’s FTSE closed the day 51.63 points higher on Thursday to 6054.55; the DAX was up 40.25 points to 7471.44 and France’s CAC 40 ended the day 18.62 points higher at 3979.96.
In the US, stocks closed sharply higher following encouraging news on jobs and those claiming for unemployment, a day ahead of the government's job report.
Asian stocks also rose to a one-month high on Friday as investors hoped for a strong US jobs report that may signal the economy is pulling out of a soft patch.
The euro held on to overnight gains in Asia on Friday following the European Central Bank's pledge to provide Portuguese banks with liquidity regardless of the country's rating, but trading is likely to be subdued ahead of the US jobs report.
The single currency rose as high as $1.4374 after the ECB news on Portugal, which Moody's cut to "junk" status on Wednesday.
Against the Swiss franc , the euro rose to 1.2130 from below 1.2000.
A court in Paris is expected to decide whether to open an inquiry into newly-appointed IMF Managing Director and former Finance Minster Christine Lagarde's role in 'l'affaire Tapie' amid claims she abused her position to approve a 285 million euro ($409 million) payout to entrepreneur Bernard Tapie. The hearing is rescheduled from 10 June.
New French Finance Minister Francois Baroin and ECB head Jean-Claude Trichet will attend the annual Aix-en-Provence Economic Forum on Friday.
In Germany, the Bundesrat will vote on the details of laws confirming the country's exit from nuclear energy by 2022 and the support of regenerative energies.
A "Save the Revolution" rally is set to take place in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Friday as uncertainty over the date of a new presidential election fuels concerns in Egypt.
Economic data out on Friday includes German manufacturing turnover data for June which will be available from 7:00 London time and current account data for Germany which is out at 8:00.
In the UK a raft of PPI data will be released at 9:30 and May's industrial production figures from Italy are available from 9:00 London time.
Highly anticipated non-farm payroll figures from the United States will be announced at 1:30 pm London time.