European Shares Seen Flat To Higher At Open

(RTTNews) - European stocks are seen opening flat to slightly higher on Friday after U.S. stocks reversed early losses to close higher overnight, supported by a pullback in bond yields.

That said, traders may adopt a cautious approach ahead of the release of the U.S. Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report later in the day.

Economists expect employment to increase by 90,000 jobs in September after an increase of 162,000 jobs in August. The unemployment rate is expected to hold steady at 4.1 percent.

Much attention will be on hourly earnings after the ISM survey flashed a strong warning that inflation is resurgent.

Asian stocks were broadly lower as investors grappled with wild swings in bond and currency markets. Mainland Chinese markets remain closed for a public holiday through Wednesday of next week.

The U.S. dollar held at a 17-month high and headed for its third straight week of gains after a bond market rout pushed borrowing costs across the globe to multi-decade highs.

Gold was little changed below $4,200 an ounce but headed for a second weekly loss, pressured by dollar strength and elevated Treasury yields.

Brent crude futures held steady at $102.29 a barrel after gaining for two consecutive sessions on fears that global fuel shortages could worsen.

It was reported that Beijing is looking to preserve domestic stocks in a move that will further crimp war-constrained fuel markets.

According to a Wall Street Journal report, the U.S. is sending a third aircraft-carrier strike group and additional Marine Corps ships to the Middle East.

Citing U.S. officials, the WSJ said the ships, jet fighters, Marines and sailors will arrive in the region by the end of November, with President Donald Trump reportedly telling aides he expects to resume bombing Iran that same month.

Overnight, U.S. stocks fluctuated before finishing mostly higher as the yield on the benchmark ten-year note slumped after reaching its highest level since April 2002 on data pointing to sustained inflationary pressures.

U.S. manufacturing activity was little changed in September, with prices for inputs surging amid rising energy prices.

New applications for unemployment benefits drifted close to 57-year lows last week and layoffs decreased in September, suggesting that the labor market is holding strong despite broader economic uncertainty.

Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari said that inflation remains too high, but he is unsure about whether the next rate hike should happen at the Oct 27-28 meeting.

Federal Reserve Vice Chair Philip Jefferson saw no urgency for the Fed to act again, emphasizing that any future adjustments in policy should be determined by carefully analyzing trends in the data, the evolving outlook, and the balance of risks.

The S&P 500 rose 0.2 percent after having hit a two-week low earlier. The narrower Dow and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite both finished marginally higher.

European stocks tumbled on Thursday as global government bond yields hit multi-year highs and oil prices climbed on uncertainty over Chinese fuel exports and a widening military buildup in the Gulf, fueling concerns that interest rates would remain higher for longer.

The 10-year French government bond yield approached the psychologically important 5 percent threshold, while the spread between French and German sovereign bond yields widened about 140 basis points, the largest since the eurozone sovereign-debt crisis of 2012, as French fiscal concerns mounted.

The pan-European STOXX 600 fell 1.3 percent, marking its biggest single-day loss in three weeks and reaching its lowest level in more than three months.

The German DAX lost 1 percent, France's CAC 40 slumped 1.6 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 plunged 1.7 percent.