BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks look set to open higher on Friday, although underlying sentiment may remain cautious ahead of the Labor Department's closely watched monthly U.S. jobs report, due out later in the day.
Employment is expected to increase by 185,000 jobs in April following the addition of 196,000 jobs in March, while the unemployment rate is expected to hold at 3.8 percent.
Asian stocks are trading mixed in thin trade with markets in China and Japan still closed for holidays.
Chinese official media Global Times reported on Thursday that the 10th round of high-level economic and trade talks, which concluded on Wednesday, had fewer details about specific discussions and results.
Gold held near a four-month low while oil extended the previous session's steep fall to hover near one-month lows on oversupply fears.
U.S. stocks fell for a second day running on Thursday as oil prices tumbled and Fed ambiguity clouded rate-cut bets.
The Dow dropped half a percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 slipped around 0.2 percent.
European markets ended mostly lower on Thursday after disappointing data from the euro zone and the Bank of England's rate decision.
The pan European Stoxx 600 gave up 0.6 percent. The German DAX finished marginally higher, while France's CAC 40 index shed 0.9 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 declined half a percent.
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