European stocks rise with US jobs data in focus

European stocks rose on Friday, resuming gains after pausing yesterday on correction, to jump once again near a 9-month high, thanks to a broad rally in the energy sector after global oil prices rose, ahead of key data in the US, led by the monthly jobs report.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index rose more than 0.2% as of 10:45 GMT, after it closed lower by 0.1% yesterday ,and posted the first loss in the last three sessions.

The pan European index opened higher today, in the last sessions of the week, with most of the major European markets and sectors seeing green.

The energy industry sector topped the list of the gaining sectors in Europe, with a rise of more than 2.5%, thanks to the rise in oil prices in global markets following the decision of the OPEC Plus alliance to increase production by only 500 thousand starting from next January instead of the previously planned increase by about 2 million Barrels per day.

The energy sector saw the largest gains in Europe today, jumping more than 2.5%, after oil prices rallied following a decision by the OPEC-Plus collation to increase production by only 500K starting from January instead of the previously planned hike by 2 million bpd.

Investors are awaiting updates in the US fiscal stimulus file, and the results of the intense Brexit-trade talks between Britain and the European Union.

Investors are also waiting for the release of the US monthly jobs for November to assess the performance of the US economy during the fourth quarter of 2020.

S&P 500 futures rose 0.3%, after the index closed lower by 0.1% yesterday at Wall Street on profit-taking from its record high of 3,682.73 points.

Back to Europe, the Euro Stoxx 50 index rose 0.3%, France's CAC 40 rose 0.4%, Germany's DAX rose over 0.2%, and the UK's FTSE 100 rose 0.9%.