Markets are expected to open on a tentative note ahead of the US jobs report. The Eurostoxx 50 opens at 4,232.10 points, up 0.11%, the CAC 40 at 6,763.08 points (+0.06%), the DAX 30 at 15,840.59 points (+0.10% ), the FTSE 100 at 7,163.90 points (+0.20%), the SMI remained stable at 12,432.46 points, the AEX at 793.32 points (+0.42%), the BEL 20 at 4,336 .61 points (+0.33%), the IBEX 35 at 8,981.40 points (-0.11%), the DJIA at 35,443.82 points (+0.37%), the Nasdaq at 15,331.18 points (+0.14%), the S&P 500 at 4,536.95 points (+0.28%) and the Nikkei 225 at 29,093.19 points, up 1.93%.

Regarding the exchange rate, the change from the close in New York indicates that EUR/USD opens at 1.1879 up 0.03%, EUR/JPY at 130.69 (+0.12%) and USD/JPY at 110.03 with a recovery of 0.08%.

Investors will be watching Friday for the final August services PMI numbers. Preliminary data released Aug. 23 by IHS Markit showed the sector's growth slowing slightly to 56.4, its lowest level in four months, from 56.8 in July. State budget figures at the end of July are also expected on Friday.

European equity markets are expected to open close to balance on Friday, with investors showing a wait-and-see attitude before the publication, scheduled for 2:30 p.m., of the monthly employment report in the United States. At 7:35 a.m., the CAC 40 futures contract lost 2 points, or 0.03%, according to data from broker IG Markets. The DAX 30 contract gained 5.5 points, or 0.03%, and the FTSE 100 contract lost 1 point, or 0.01%. Economists polled by the Wall Street Journal anticipate 720,000 job creations in the United States in August, compared to 943,000 in July. The unemployment rate is expected to fall, to 5.2% in August, from 5.4% in July. On Thursday, Wall Street rose to new closing highs, driven by the decline in jobless claims to their lowest level since the start of the pandemic in the United States. The broader S&P 500 index rose 0.3% to end at a new record high of 4,536.95 points. Also exceeding its previous high point, the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.1% to 15,331.18 points. The Dow Jones Index (DJIA) rose 0.4% to 35,443.82 points. The number of US workers making their first jobless claim fell by 14,000 last week to 340,000, a low point since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020, according to figures from the US Department of Labor. . Ahead of the jobs report, investors in Europe will be watching the final services PMI figures in August. Provisional data showed still very strong activity in the sector, with an index at 59.7 against 59.8 in August. In Asia, the main indices are moving in dispersed order on Friday. At the end of the session, the Shanghai Composite fell by 0.3% and the Hang Seng index of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange fell by 0.7%. In Tokyo, the Nikkei index gained 2% at the end of the session. Japan's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has announced that Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga will not stand for re-election as party leader on September 29 and will therefore step down as head of government.

Yields on US Treasury bonds rose on Friday. At 7:35 a.m., the rate of the ten-year bond, the market benchmark, stood at 1.299%, against 1.289% on Thursday evening. Operators are positioning themselves for the monthly employment report in the United States, after the announcement on Thursday of a drop in weekly jobless claims to their lowest level since the start of the health crisis in the United States in March 2020.

The dollar loses some ground against the euro on Friday before the employment figures in the United States. At 7:35 a.m., the single currency traded at 1.1880 dollars, up 0.04%. Analysts believe the jobs report should indicate that the Delta variant of the coronavirus may have weighed on hiring in August. "A number of 400,000 job creations [...] would confirm other elements indicating that the Delta variant clearly affects growth", indicates Pantheon Macroeconomics.

Oil contracts are changing little Friday morning, while US producers restart their facilities in the Gulf of Mexico after the passage of Hurricane Ida and await the publication, scheduled for 2:30 p.m., of the employment report in the United States. At 7:25 a.m., the November North Sea Brent contract was down 8 cents to $72.95 a barrel. The October contract on Nymex-listed light sweet crude (WTI) was down 20 cents at $69.79 a barrel.