European stocks are seen opening higher on Friday, tracking gains across Asia ahead of the monthly U.S. non-farm payrolls report scheduled to be released later in the day. Miners and energy stocks may gain on account of firm commodity prices.
In Europe, factory orders data from Germany along with producer price inflation figures from the U.K. are due on Friday, headlining a moderate day for European economic news.
U.K. input prices are forecast to rise 7.8% year-over-year in February, slower than the 8.4% increase in the preceding month. On the other hand, output prices are tipped to climb 4%, after the 3.8% increase a month ago.
Economists expect German factory orders to surge 15.4% year-over-year, accelerating from the 8.4% increase a month ago. On a monthly basis, factory orders are forecast to rise 1.3%.
Asian stocks posted notable gains across the board Friday, tracking a solid performance by U.S. stocks overnight on the back of encouraging data on retail sales and first-time jobless claims. A report that the Bank of Japan is considering a further easing of its monetary policy and the weaker yen lifted Japan's Nikkei average by 2.2%.
After retreating by $0.66 on Thursday, crude oil futures held above $80 a barrel in Asian trading today, helped by higher regional equities. Trading in the U.S index futures now suggest that the Dow could rise by 15 points at the opening bell on Friday.
In corporate news, French offshore oil and gas marine services company Bourbon SA said it now owns 100% of the share capital of its Brazilian subsidiary Delba Maritima Navegacao.
Italy's refiner ERG SpA said its fourth-quarter loss widened to 27 million euros from 12 million euros in the year-ago period.
Defence and aerospace company Finmeccanica SpA reported 2009 net profit of 718 million euros, up 16% from a year earlier.
Orders received by Germany's engineering sector decreased 3% year-over-year in January, industry body VDMA said on Thursday. New work from domestic sources declined 17% annually, while that from overseas clients increased 6%.
Germany's Chemical Industry Association said on Thursday that demand was continuing to increase all over the world for the country's chemical products, driving an increase in chemical production in the December quarter. But it expects the recovery in 2010 to be slow and sluggish.
The European markets closed little changed on Thursday, as gains among banking stocks and better-than-estimated earnings from Vinci offset weakness in mining stocks and disappointing results at A.P. Moeller-Maersk and Anheuser-Busch InBev.
The economic recovery in the euro area is on track, although it is likely to remain uneven, ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet said after maintaining the interest rate on main refinancing operations at a record low of 1% for the tenth consecutive month. The Bank of England also maintained its benchmark interest rate at 0.5% and kept its bond-purchase program on hold for a second month.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index of pan-European blue chips closed 0.09% higher, while the narrower DJ Stoxx 50 index rose 0.02%. Around Europe, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index declined 0.11%, France's CAC 40 index slipped 0.37% and Germany's DAX index dropped 0.39% to 5,795.32.
On Wall Street, stocks ended moderately higher on Thursday amid mixed economic data. While encouraging reports from the labor department and the manufacturing sector aided sentiment, an unexpected drop in pending home sales dampened the mood to an extent. All the major averages closed in positive territory, finishing the day at six-week closing highs. The Dow gained 0.46%, the Nasdaq advanced 0.51% and the S&P 500 edged up 0.37%.
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