European Stock Futures Edge Higher; US Payrolls Loom Large By Investing.com – Investing.com

European Stock Futures Edge Higher; US Payrolls Loom Large By Investing.com – Investing.com

© Reuters.

By Peter Nurse 

Investing.com - European stock markets are seen edging higher at the open Friday, boosted by strong trade data out of China but with investors cautious ahead of the key monthly U.S. employment report.

At 2:05 AM ET (0705 GMT), the contract in Germany traded 0.1% higher, in France climbed 0.1% and the contract in the U.K. rose 0.2%. 

Stock markets have climbed to record levels of late--the blue chip closed at an all-time high on Wall Street on Thursday--as economic data has pointed to a strong global recovery.

This continued Friday as China posted an impressive trade performance in April, with surging 32.3% from a year ago as global demand for Chinese goods remained elevated as countries emerged from the restrictions put in place to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

The focus now shifts to the release of the U.S. report later for another illustration of the economic bounce. Expectations are running high, maybe to the tune of one million jobs being added, after a release Thursday showed the number of Americans filing last week for unemployment benefits fell to its lowest level since the pandemic started.

Friday’s