European stock futures rise despite persistent pandemic recovery doubts

European stock markets were on an upbeat performance on Friday, boosted by Wall Street’s late gains overnight. However, pandemic recovery doubts still lurk in the markets as the third wave of coronavirus cases hit the European region and concerns over slow vaccine rollouts.

Germany’s DAX futures contract was up 0.1%. France’s CAC 40 futures improved 0.7%. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 futures contract inched up 0.8%.

U.S. stocks improved on Thursday trade, with the S&P 500 chalking up a 0.6% gain to halt its two-day losing streak. The Dow Jones also improved by 0.6%. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.1%.

The virtual meeting between EU leaders on Thursday to discuss pandemic issues continues on Friday. The EU has announced plans to toughen supervision of vaccine exports.

In Britain, retail sales plummeted 3.7% on the year in February, though a better outing than January’s 5.9% decline.