European Shares May See Cautious Start Ahead Of US Jobs Data

(RTTNews) - European stocks may open on a tepid note Friday as investors await the U.S. Labour Department's closely watched monthly jobs report later in the day for directional cues.

Economists expect employment to increase by 170,000 jobs in December after an increase of 199,000 jobs in November.

The unemployment rate is expected to inch up to 3.8 percent from 3.7 percent.

Traders also await eurozone inflation and producer prices data to be released later today for important clues to European Central Bank policy.

Asian markets were flat to slightly lower in muted trade, with Japanese shares outperforming regional peers.

The Japanese yen extended its descent against the dollar amid speculation that the Bank of Japan might go slowly on changing its ultra-loose monetary policy in the aftermath of a powerful earthquake that hit Japan on New Year's Day.

Gold held steady as increased geopolitical tensions in the Middle East offset a stronger dollar, which hovered near three-week highs.

Treasuries were unchanged after declines across the curve. Oil prices inched higher after declining Thursday on data showing a build in gasoline inventories.

U.S. stocks ended mostly lower overnight while the 10-year Treasury yield edged closer to 4 percent as strong labor market data raised fresh uncertainty about the pace of potential rate cuts this year.

The private sector added more jobs than anticipated in December while weekly jobless claims fell more than expected to hit a two-week low, separate reports showed.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.6 percent and the S&P 500 eased 0.3 percent while the Dow finished marginally higher.

European stocks ended a choppy session higher on Thursday after the release of euro area private sector data and inflation readings from Germany and France.

The pan-European STOXX 600 gained 0.7 percent after falling for two straight days. The German DAX, France's CAC 40 and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 all rose around half a percent.