European market outlook: Euro recovers, sterling remains weak as stocks seen opening higher

Stocks are called higher with European traders likely to ignore losses in Asia. The Nikkei closed down 1.1%. The euro and sterling both weakened against the dollar in Asian trade which was the first opportunity for Asian markets to assess Friday's Non-Farm Payroll numbers. "Friday's Non-Farm Payroll numbers initially left the market a little confused but after having time to dissect the information it now seems that the -20k number is a positive result", said James Hughes, Market Analyst at CMC Markets. "Despite expecting the gain of 5k a huge revision lower in the previous months figures means that the -20k figure is a huge step in the right direction for the US unemployment situation and in turn economic recovery", he added. There has been speculation about the euro being oversold at the moment and any positive news on the Greek sovereign debt front might possibly create an upside movement. EUR/USD recovered from overnight lows at 1.3621 to rise to 1.6364. Cable dipped to lows at 1.5535 to trade around 1.5580 in early European trade. EUR/GBP rose to session highs at 0.8774. The European Calendar has the Eurozone economic sentiment index from Sentix scheduled at 09:30 GMT. Earlier Swiss unemployment fell sligthly and the Bank of France's said it expects Q1 GDP growth of 0.5% q/q. Bund March futures traded 12 ticks lower at 124.13 at the opening. Oil futures stood around par. WTI March futuers traded at $71.24, ICE Brent March futures were at $69.58.