BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - Investors might strongly react to the Labor Department's closely watched monthly employment report for May.
Asian shares finished higher, while European shares are trading up.
Initial cues from the U.S. Futures point to higher open for Wall Street.
As of 8.15 am ET, the Dow futures were up 312.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were adding 23.75 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were progressing 11.00 points.
The U.S. majors closed higher on Thursday. The Dow inched up 11.93 points or 0.1 percent to a three-month closing high of 26,281.82, the Nasdaq slid 67.10 points or 0.7 percent to 9,615.81 and the S&P 500 fell 10.52 points or 0.3 percent to 3,112.35.
Economists expect U.S. employment to tumble by about 8.0 million jobs in May after plunging by 20.5 million jobs in April. The unemployment rate is expected to jump to 19.8 percent, a post-World War Two record, from 14.7 percent in April.
On the economic front, the Labor Department's Employment Situation report for May will be issued at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for a decline of 7,725,000, while it was down 2,500,000 in the prior month. The average hourly earnings is expected to be 0.9 percent, while it was 4.7 percent in the prior month.
Baker-Hughes Rig Count for the week will be released at 1.00 pm ET. In the prior week, the North American Rig Count was 321, while U.S. Rig Count was 301.
Federal Reserve Board's Consumer Credit report for April will be published at 3.00 pm ET. The consensus is for a decline of $14.0 billion, while it was down $12.1 billion in the previous month.
Asian stocks finished mostly higher on Friday. Chinese shares ended a choppy session higher, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite index closing up 11.55 points, or 0.40 percent, at 2,930.80. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rallied 1.66 percent to 24,770.41.
Japanese shares rose for a fifth straight session. The Nikkei average rose 167.99 points, or 0.74 percent, to 22,863.73, marking a 3-1/2-month high. The broader Topix index closed 0.54 percent higher at 1,612.48.
Australian markets recovered from an early slide to finish marginally higher. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 ended up 6.90 points, or 0.12 percent, at 5,998.70 after climbing more than 4 percent over the past four sessions. The broader All Ordinaries index inched up by 4.50 points to 6,116.50.
European shares are trading higher. CAC 40 of France is adding 96.82 points or 1.93 percent. DAX of Germany is progressing 221.30 points or 1.78 percent. FTSE 100 of England is gaining 66.71 points or 1.05 percent. Swiss Market Index is progressing 21.82 points or 0.22 percent.
Euro Stoxx 50 that provides a Blue-chip representation of supersector leaders in the Eurozone, is up 1.73 percent.
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