Russian stocks opened Friday in positive territory in anticipation of a batch of important data from the US as the week comes to a close, including an updated jobs report.
On Thursday Russian floors closed in the red, with the MICEX declining 0.74 percent to 1316.92 and the RTS down 1.09 percent to 1286.86.
European markets also closed lower on Thursday, with finance leading the decline after the European Central Bank revised its economic projections for 2013, predicting that the eurozone recession will deepen. The ECB has also kept its historically low interest rates steady at 0.5 percent.
The UK’s FTSE100 fell 1.30 percent to 6,336.11 points, Germany’s DAX 30 shed 1.19 percent to 8,098.81 points and France’s CAC 40 slid 0.99 percent to 3,814.28 points.
European stocks are expected to open higher Friday following the previous session's losses, although gains may be muted ahead of the US Labor Department's monthly jobs report, slated for release later in the day. Germany will also release official data on its trade balance and industrial production, a leading economic indicator.
American markets had a volatile trading session Thursday, with the US dollar sliding and bond prices rising. The major indices still ended the day in the black ahead of the May jobs report. The Dow Jones closed up 0.53 percent at 15.040.62, the S&P 500 climbed 0.84 percent at 1,622.49 and the Nasdaq rose 0.66 percent to 3,424.05.
The US will also release hotly anticipated data on nonfarm payrolls, as well as a report on average hourly earnings. Employment is expected to rise by around 167,000 jobs in May, after adding 165,000 jobs in April; the unemployment rate is expected to remain unchanged at 7.5 percent.These developments could solidify the Fed’s plan to end its bond-buying stimulus program.
Most Asian stocks fell on Friday, with investors eying the forthcoming US jobs report. The revised ECB forecast predicting a deepening recession in the eurozone has compounded the negative sentiments.
Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 1.3 percent to 12,734.91 after the yen climbed against the dollar. Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1.3 percent to 21,549.68, South Korea's Kospi declined 1.5 percent to 1,930.80 and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.7 percent to 4,746.40.
Oil is currently trading in the black, with Brent up 0.09 percent to $103.40 and WTI up 0.15 percent to $95.