Investing.com - European markets opened higher on Friday, as investors eyed the release of euro zone inflation data due later in the day, as well as a highly-anticipated U.S. employment report.
The EURO STOXX 50 advanced 0.44%, France’s CAC 40 gained 0.38%, while Germany’s DAX 30 was up 0.69% by 03:30 a.m. ET (07:30 GMT).
Financial stocks were broadly higher, as French lenders BNP Paribas (PA:BNPP) and Societe Generale (PA:SOGN) gained 0.60% and 0.93%, while Germany's Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn) and Commerzbank (DE:CBKG) advanced 0.48% and 0.80%.
Among peripheral lenders, Italy's Intesa Sanpaolo (MI:ISP) and Unicredit (MI:CRDI) rose 0.35% and 0.06% respectively, while Spanish banks BBVA (MC:BBVA) and Banco Santander (MC:SAN) climbed 0.58% and 0.80%.
Elsewhere, Volkswagen (DE:VOWG_p) jumped 1.67% following news the German carmaker joined forces with U.S. group Aurora to research and develop self-driving cars.
Allianz (DE:ALVG) added to gains for the second consecutive session, with shares up 0.76% following news the German insurer's property unit plans to double investments in Asia over three years.
In London, commodity-heavy FTSE 100 inched up 0.01, helped by gains in the mining giants Glencore (LON:GLEN) and Anglo American (LON:AAL), whose shares climbed 0.50% and 1.05%.
Financial stocks were also moderately higher, as Lloyds Banking (LON:LLOY) and the Royal Bank of Scotland (LON:RBS) bith edged up 0.07% and Barclays (LON:BARC) added 0.15%. HSBC Holdings (LON:HSBA) was down 0.01%.
On the downside, BAE Systems (LON:BAES) saw shares decline 0.84%. The company made headlines earlier in the week when the U.S. Navy awarded the company a $47 million contract to modernize its guided-missile destroyer USS Howard.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a higher open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.19% increase, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.16% rise, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.22% gain.