Europe set for higher open

European futures are edging higher on Friday morning, a day after the ECB raised its key interest rates for the seventh consecutive meeting, with concerns about the state of the U.S. financial sector on pause as Apple earnings boosted sentiment.

The world’s largest company by market cap surprised investors with a rise in iPhone sales even as the global smartphone market slumps. Its Frankfurt-listed shares are up 2.1% this morning.

Futures on the Euro STOXX 50 are up 0.4%, with Germany’s DAX, France’s CAC 40, and Britain’s FTSE 100 futures all rising between 0.3%-0.4%.

Wall Street futures are also higher, while MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pac shares ex-Japan is up 0.4%.

Key US labour market data is in focus later for signs on whether previous tightening is starting to impact the economy.

Nonfarm payrolls are expected to have increased by 180,000 last month, the smallest increase in nearly 2-1/2 years, although wage growth is expected to have remained strong, rising 0.3% on the month and 4.2% y/y, which may offer little comfort in the Fed’s inflation fight.

(Samuel Indyk)