European Stock Futures Unmoved, U.S. Jobs Data Looked Upon

European stock markets have opened unchanged on Friday as investors became wary before the release of key U.S. jobs data that would give clues into the Federal Reserve tapering’s timing.

The DAX futures contract in Germany climbed 0.1% higher in trading and the CAC 40 futures in France declined by 0.1%, all while the FTSE 100 futures contract in the U.K. remains unmoved.

Later this Friday, the monthly official U.S. employment report is set to be released and is expected to disclose the rebound in the labor market, thus permitting the Federal Reserve to slow decrease momentum in its expansive bond-buying program. The strong ADP private payrolls on Wednesday already suggested a more than healthy rate of job gains. While this is the case, the correlation between the two has been dampened over the course of the pandemic.

In September, a projection of 500,000 jobs has been recorded, an almost 50% jump from the previous 235,000 the month before.

European markets were privy to a positive handover from Asia after the reopening of the Chinese mainland markets from a week’s worth of holiday. In addition, the country’s services sector started to shape up with its growth in September. The Caixin services purchasing managers index recorded 53.4 in September, compared to August’s 46.7.

Wall Street also closed at a positive note on Thursday from the U.S. Senate’s approval of legislation to temporarily raise the federal government’s debt limit to avert historic default.

Crude prices climbed higher on Friday, resulting in a seven-week gain despite apprehensions on the U.S, Energy Department’s consideration of releasing oil from strategic reserves.

Additional supply to the market from the U.S. are being looked into as a measure of keeping oil prices low. These have climbed considerably in light of revitalized fuel demand as economies start bouncing back.

U.S. crude futures are seeing a climb in trading with 1.6% at $79.53 per barrel, as Brent contracts went up 1.3% to $83.05 at 2:15 AM ET. This week, WTI reached its highest in almost seven years as Brent Oil Futures reached a high of three years.

Gold futures also climbed to $1,759.55/oz, as EUR/USD traded higher at 0.1% to land at 1.1547.