VIENNA (dpa-AFX) - European stocks are poised for a weak open on Friday after a lackluster session on Wall Street overnight and a broadly weak trend in Asia this morning.
With the OPEC-led market surge appearing to fizzle out, investors are now waiting for cues from the U.S. jobs report due tonight, Sunday's constitutional referendum in Italy and a presidential election in Austria due this weekend.
After private payroll figures beat economists' expectations, analysts are expecting that U.S. nonfarm payrolls will increase by 170,000 jobs in November versus 161,000 jobs generated in October. The unemployment rate is expected to hold at 4.9 percent.
Italians will vote on constitutional changes on December 4 at a time when there are uncertainties about how a hard Brexit might affect Europe.
Prime Minister Matteo Renzi says his country can be fundamentally reformed if the 'yes' vote wins. On the other hand, a 'no' vote could trigger political uncertainty and might derail Italy's fragile recovery.
Austria holds presidential elections on Sunday and the result is likely to have a symbolic importance far beyond the country.
Asian stocks are trading broadly lower, with markets in Australia, Hong Kong, India and Japan leading regional declines, as the dollar pulled back from a 9-1/2 month high against the yen and the oil's rally in the aftermath of the OPEC agreement fizzled out. A rise in benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yields also stirred capital outflow worries.
Gold prices recovered from 10-month lows, but remained on track for a fourth consecutive weekly drop on expectations of faster pace of monetary tightening by the Federal Reserve under Trump's presidency.
The day's economic calendar remains light, with PMI survey results from the U.K. and producer prices data for the euro area slated for release later in the session.
U.S. stocks ended mixed overnight as a sell-off in technology stocks offset gains among banks and energy stocks, and economic reports on manufacturing and construction spending boosted the case for higher interest rates.
The Dow rose 0.4 percent to reach a fresh record closing high, but the S&P 500 shed 0.4 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 1.4 percent.
European shares retreated from three-week highs on Thursday, with the pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index declining 0.3 percent to snap a two-day rally. The German DAX lost 1 percent, France's CAC 40 index dropped 0.4 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 slid half a percent.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX