European equity markets are expected to rise at the opening, encouraged by Wall Street. The Eurostoxx 50 opens at 4,059.05 points (+0.80%), the CAC 40 at 6,481.59 points (+0.26%), the DAX 30 at 15,514.54 points (+0.60%), the FTSE 100 at 6.968.30 points (-0.43%), the SMI at 11,977.00 points (-0.37%), the AEX at 739.03 points (+0.72%), the BEL 20 at 4.218.70 points (+0.44%), the IBEX 35 at 8,621.80 points (+0.64%), the DJIA at 34,823.35 points (+0.07%), the Nasdaq at 14.684.60 points (+0.36%), the S&P 500 at 4,367.48 points (+0.20%) and the Nikkei 225 at 27,548.00 points (+0.58%).

As for the exchange rate, the change from the close in New York indicates that EUR/USD remains unchanged at 1.1771 while EUR/JPY opens at 129.77 up 0.06% and USD/JPY gains 110.26, or 0.09%.

In corporate news, Vivendi, Fininvest and Mediaset announced Thursday evening that they had finalized the global agreement they had reached in May to end their litigation, with the three parties "mutually waiving all pending lawsuits and claims."The aircraft manufacturer Dassault Aviation also confirmed on Thursday its objectives for this year, after recording a strong increase in its results during a first half rich in contracts and orders.On the macroeconomic side, the provisional PMI indices for July will be released at 9:15 am. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expect the manufacturing index to decline to 58.4 from 59 in June, but the services index to rise to 59 from 57.8.

European equity markets are expected to open higher Friday, following Wall Street's advance the day before. At 7:40 a.m., the CAC 40 futures contract was up 18.5 points, or 0.3%, according to data from broker IG Markets. The DAX 30 contract was up 35.5 points, or 0.2%, and the FTSE 100 was up 19.7 points, or 0.3%. On Friday, investors will be watching for manufacturing and services PMIs in Europe and the United States.

The New York Stock Exchange ended higher on Thursday, following a volatile session as investors reacted to mixed economic indicators. The market rebound since Tuesday allowed U.S. indices to erase their sharp decline on Monday, when the spread of the Delta variant of the coronavirus raised serious concerns about the economic recovery. However, quarterly results and outlooks presented by companies have helped reassure investors. About 20% of S&P 500 companies reported earnings and the majority of them beat analysts' forecasts, according to FactSet. In Asia, major markets lost ground Friday. At the end of the session, the Shanghai Composite was down 0.7 percent and the Hang Seng lost 1 percent in Hong Kong, hurt by low trading volumes. The Tokyo Stock Exchange is closed due to a public holiday in the country.

The yield on the U.S. 10-year government bond was stable at 1.280% on Friday, while European government bond rates remained under pressure after the European Central Bank's monetary policy decision.s monetary policy decision on Thursday, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year German Bund hovering around -0.423%.The ECB's statements on Thursday were largely in line with expectations of a continued accommodative stance, analysts said.

The euro is steady Friday morning against the dollar and is up slightly against the yen. The greenback is also gaining some ground against the Japanese currency. The European Central Bank (ECB) said Thursday at the end of its monetary policy meeting that it plans to keep monetary policy accommodative for a long time to encourage a sustainable return of inflation in the euro area to its new target of 2%. Its chairwoman, Christine Lagarde, said inflation in the euro zone is expected to ease next year, sending the single currency lower, holding below $1.18 Friday.

Oil contracts are retreating Friday morning, after a third straight session of gains on Thursday that saw them reach their highest levels in more than a week. Investors are likely concerned about the increase in Delta variant coronavirus cases around the world and its implications for oil demand, said Margaret Yang, strategist at DailyFX.com. The recent appreciation of the dollar could also weigh on commodity prices, she added. At around 7:20 a.m., the September contract for North Sea Brent crude was down 31 cents at $73.48 a barrel. The same-term WTI contract was also down 31 cents to $71.60 a barrel.