Taking Stock: Europe up ahead of NFP, lead by Asia

FXstreet.com (Barcelona) - European stocks opened higher on Friday, lead by Asia, and partially boosted by the release of partially better Spanish unemployment data, ahead of today´s US NFP´s, but has gradually given back gains to sit in slightly positive territory.

Overnight, Asian stocks rallied in anticipation of the headline US data, with the NIKKEI closing up 3.29% at 14,466.16, the HANG SENG up 0.33% at 22,162.32 and the S&P/ASX 200 up 1.09% at 5,116.76. Currently the EUROSTOXX 50 is up 0.7% at 2810.68, the DAX up 0.08% at 8417.82 and the FTSE 100 up 0.04% at 6684.40.With all focus on US NFP´s today, US futures are higher, with the DJIA up 0.1%, the S&P 500 up 0.8% and the NASDAQ up 0.22%.