Stock markets in Europe are anticipated to open slightly higher

Although attention is focused on important U.S. payroll data later in the day, European stock markets are projected to open moderately higher on Friday, carrying on the optimistic tone set during the previous session on optimism over peak world rates.

Following Wall Street's tone, European shares are enjoying a great week thanks to declining global rates, unexpectedly robust corporate earnings, and—most importantly—confidence that some top central banks have completed their rate-hiking cycles.

Interest rates were left steady by the Federal Reserve on Wednesday, the Bank of England on Thursday, and the European Central Bank the previous week.

But, since the official U.S. jobs report is one of the data sets the Fed considers when determining its next course of action, a stronger-than-expected report later in the session could break this optimism.

Analysts predict that October employment growth in the US economy will be 188,000, down from 336,000 in September. However, it is anticipated that the unemployment rate will stay at 3.8% and that average hourly wages will have climbed by 0.3% in October after increasing by 0.2% in September.

In Europe, September industrial production in France and September unemployment in the eurozone are on the data slate.

Following the U.S. closing on Thursday, Apple revealed fiscal fourth-quarter sales and profit that exceeded forecasts, aided by a $1 billion increase in services revenue and a notable increase in iPhone sales, which more than offset significant declines in Mac and iPad sales.

However, due to the poor demand for iPads, the tech giant's sales projection for the holiday quarter fell short of expectations.

Friday saw a little increase in oil prices, building on the strong gains of the previous session as traders grew more optimistic that the Federal Reserve would stop raising interest rates, which hurt the dollar.

Though concerns about supply interruptions in this oil-rich region were eased by the absence of escalation in the Israel-Hamas conflict, both crude contracts are expected to lose more than 3% for the week, marking their second straight losing week.

(Sources: investing.com, reuters.com)