The best week for Asian shares in five months and the second six percent weekly jump in a row in oil prices put global markets in a buoyant mood on Friday, ahead of closely followed monthly U.S. jobs data.
European shares opened 0.2 percent higher, on course for their third straight week of gains as solid results for the world's largest advertiser WPP dovetailed with the latest tick up in commodities markets and hopes for another shot of European Central Bank stimulus next week.
Investors seem to have put recent worries about a potential global recession firmly behind them for the moment and the U.S. 'non-farm' payrolls numbers are expected to show the labor market in the world's largest economy ticking along nicely.
A Reuters poll of economists forecasts them to show 190,000 jobs were added last month and that the overall unemployment level staying at an eight-year low of 4.9 percent.
"We didn't believe the 'world is going to end' story, but the way the mood has changed in the last couple of weeks is just crazy," said Janus Capital portfolio manager and global research analyst Ryan Myerberg.
"Since the beginning of the year it has been like driving down the motorway where every couple of miles a tractor has overturned, whether that be China, oil, the banks, that you have to swerve around."
The dollar was grinding higher again on cautious bets that a good payrolls number later will, as Myerberg at Janus expects, support the Federal Reserve's case to increase U.S. rates again later in the year.
The greenback was up 0.1 percent against a basket of major currencies as the euro nudged back to $1.0936 to roughly where it started the week and the yen steadied at 113.74.
Traders also locked in some profits on sterling having seen it bounce back almost 2 percent this week from last month's 5 percent 'Brexit' battering.
