European equity markets are expected to change little before the US jobs report. The Eurostoxx 50 opened at 4,161.08 points with an increase of 0.39%. The CAC 40 at 6,781.19 points (+0.52%), the DAX 30 at 15,744.67 points (+0.33%), the FTSE 100 at 7,120.43 points (-0.05%), the SMI at 12,199.82 points (+0.17%), the AEX at 768.23 points (+0.26%), the BEL 20 at 4,293.22 points (+0.62%), the IBEX 35 at 8,836.50 points (+0.50%), the DJIA at 35,064.25 points (+0.78%), the Nasdaq at 14,895.12 points (+0.78%), the S&P 500 at 4,429.10 points (+0.60%) and the Nikkei 225 at 27,805.06 points up 0.28%.

The exchange rate indicates a bearish variation from the close in New York. EUR/USD opened at 1.1824 down 0.09%, EUR/JPY at 129.87 (-0.03%) and USD/JPY at 109.84   up 0.06%.

The financial rating agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) said Thursday that it could raise its credit rating for Europcar a notch after the announcement of the proposed merger between the car rental group and Volkswagen. S&P said it had placed Europcar's "CCC+" credit rating "under surveillance with positive implications". The Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) on Thursday imposed financial penalties totalling 37 million euros against amundi Asset Management, Amundi Intermediation and Tullett Prebon, following price manipulation by three former employees of these companies over a short period in 2015. On Friday, Getlink presents its traffic figures for the month of July, while Delfingen Industry publishes its turnover for the second quarter. On the macroeconomic side, statistics on foreign trade for the month of June and those on payroll employment for the second quarter will be published at 8:45 a.m.

European equity markets are expected to be little changed in early trading on Friday, as investors await the release of the U.S. jobs report to find out how the surge in Covid-19 cases is affecting the world's largest economy. At 7:40 a.m., the CAC 40 futures contract was down 9.6 points, or 0.1%, according to data from broker IG Markets. The DAX 30 contract was up 2.5 points, or 0.02%, and the FTSE 100 contract was down 3.6 points, or 0.05%. Friday will be the release of the monthly report on nonfarm payrolls in the United States, which includes public sector hiring. Economists polled by the Wall Street Journal expect 845,000 new jobs to be created in July, a level close to that recorded in June. The New York Stock Exchange ended higher on Thursday, propelling the Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 to new records, after the announcement of a decline in unemployment registrations in the United States last week and good corporate results. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indexes ended the session at all-time highs, with the broader index hitting a record high for the 43rd time this year. The Nasdaq Composite set record highs 27 times in 2021. The Dow Jones index ended just 0.2% below its highest level reached on July 26.

The number of U.S. workers applying for first-time unemployment benefits fell by 14,000 in the week ended July 31 to 385,000 in seasonally adjusted data, the U.S. Department of Labor said Thursday. These good figures offset the release on Wednesday of disappointing statistics on private employment in the United States. In Asia, the indices present a mixed picture on Friday. At the end of the session in Tokyo, the Nikkei index gained 0.3%. Meanwhile, the Hang Seng, the flagship index of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, was up 0.01% and the Shanghai Composite was down 0.5%.

U.S. Treasury bond yields ended slightly higher on Thursday, after weekly jobless registrations fell and awaited the U.S. nonfarm payrolls report. The yield on the ten-year U.S. Treasury bond stood at 1.239% on Friday morning, after closing at 1.224% on Thursday night.

The euro is losing some ground on Friday against the dollar and is almost stable against the yen. The greenback is up slightly against the Japanese currency. Most Asian currencies are falling against the dollar, ahead of the release of the U.S. non-farm employment report. According to currency broker Pepperstone, a number of new jobs of more than one million, accompanied by a drop in the unemployment rate and a satisfactory activity rate, could trigger a sell-off movement in the bond market and give a new impetus to the dollar.

Oil prices are rising slightly on Friday morning, after having already been supported on Thursday by the announcement of an increase in US crude exports last month. In the short term, demand for black gold could be weighed down by the spread of the Delta variant of the coronavirus in fifteen Chinese provinces, warns Oanda, while China is among the largest importers of oil. At 7:15 a.m., the October Contract for North Sea Brent gained 9 cents to $71.38 a barrel. The September contract for light sweet crude (WTI) listed on the Nymex was up 6 cents, at $69.15 a barrel.