Before the bell: a little higher...mostly

Besides the economic data, there's also some corporate news that traders will be keeping in mind.

That includes Volkswagen's VOWG_p.DE supervisory board on Thursday approving a transformation plan that will include cutting another 50,000 jobs in its attempt to counter painful tariffs, overcapacity and aggressive Chinese rivals. Shares in the German auto-maker have already jumped in early trading.

Elsewhere, British lender Barclays BARC.L told Reuters that it plans to more than double its banker headcount in its Singapore private banking operation by 2030.

Most major European indices look set to nudge higher when trading kicks off: Euro STOXX 50 futures STXEc1 are up 0.1%, DAX futures FDXc1 are 0.3% higher and CAC futures FCEc1 are just about in positive territory. Across the Channel though, FTSE futures FCEc1 are a touch lower.

It looks possible, but by no means certain, that European shares will follow their counterparts in Asia and the U.S. higher. Equities have climbed ahead of U.S. jobs data later that may shed some more light on the U.S. economic backdrop. Bonds, meanwhile, have got some relief after Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller dented rate-hike expectations on Thursday.