· European markets were slightly higher on Friday morning as investors geared up for more data releases, while taking note of the positive trading seen overseas.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 was 0.34 percent higher with almost every sector moving in positive territory. Sentiment appears to have been boosted somewhat, following a positive close on Wall Street on Thursday, and a upbeat session from Asia.
· Asian equities followed Wall Street’s gains overnight and edged higher on Friday while the dollar’s advance slowed ahead of the U.S. jobs report due later in the session.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.3 percent.
· Japan’s Nikkei share average edged up on Friday, echoing Wall Street gains, but trading was subdued as investors awaited U.S. job data for possible clues on the Federal Reserve’s next move on interest rates.
The Nikkei gained 0.2 percent to 19,685.97 points by midmorning trade. For the week, the Nikkei looked set to rise 1.2 percent, which would snap a six-week losing streak.
· China stocks edged up on Friday to cap their third week of gains, bolstered by robust corporate earnings and signs of accelerated reforms of state firms.
The blue-chip CSI300 index rose 0.2 percent to 3,830.54 points, while the Shanghai Composite Index also added0.2 percent to 3,367.12 points.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC
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