European stock futures higher; German factory orders impress

European stock markets are expected to open higher Friday, as investors digest earnings from tech giants Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) ahead of the release of the eagerly-awaited U.S. nonfarm payrolls report.

At 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT), the DAX futures contract in Germany traded 0.6% higher, CAC 40 futures in France climbed 0.6% and the FTSE 100 futures contract in the U.K. rose 0.2%.

Talk of additional Chinese stimulus helps tone
European stocks look set to start the final day of a volatile week on a positive note, helped by more talk from the Chinese government of additional stimulus measures to boost the second-largest economy in the world, and a major export market for many of Europe’s largest companies.

China’s top economic committees said in a joint statement on Friday that the government will unlock more measures to boost consumer spending and improve local liquidity, but offered no major details.

Crowded economic data slate
However, there are plenty of economic data releases scheduled in Europe this session which could alter this healthy tone.

It will not be German factory orders that do this though, as they climbed a chunky 7% on the month in June, a much better result than the drop of 2.0% expected.

Investor attention will also be on construction PMI data from the eurozone, U.K. and Germany, as well as industrial production for France, Italy and Spain and eurozone retail sales.

However, the day’s highlight will be the release of the official U.S. jobs report, which is expected to show payrolls rose 200,000 in July, a small reduction from the 209,000 jobs created the prior month.

Any signs of resilience in the jobs market would likely provide the Federal Reserve with more headroom to keep raising interest rates.

Apple disappoints with declining sales
In Europe, quarterly results are due from the likes of French banking giant Credit Agricole (EPA:CAGR) and shipping conglomerate AP Moeller-Maersk (CSE:MAERSKb).

That said, a lot of attention will be on Wall Street after Apple, the world’s largest company by market capitalization, posted its third straight quarter of declining sales and predicted a similar performance in the current period.

On the flip side, online retail giant Amazon impressed as it reported sales growth and profit that beat expectations as hefty cost cuts delivered a leaner company.

Crude prices edge higher after further output cuts
Oil prices edged higher Friday, on course for the sixth consecutive week of gains on the back of output cuts by Saudi Arabia and Russia, two of the world’s largest producers, tightening global supplies.

Saudi Arabia extended on Thursday a voluntary oil production cut of 1 million barrels per day until the end of September, while Russia has also said it will cut its oil exports by 300,000 barrels per day next month.

These cuts came just before a meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies later this session, which makes further cuts from the cartel unlikely.

By 02:00 ET, the U.S. crude futures traded 0.3% higher at $81.76 a barrel, while the Brent contract climbed 0.2% to $85.30.

Additionally, gold futures rose 0.1% to $1,970.15/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.1% higher at 1.0958.

European stock futures higher; German factory orders impress