European stocks gained ground in early trade on Friday, with UBS rising 3.5 percent on news that a former CEO added pressure on the troubled Swiss bank to restructure itself, Reuters reported. But investors remained cautious ahead of key monthly U.S. jobs data that could confirm a U.S. economic downturn. At 0718 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 0.4 percent at 1,317.69 points. Shares of financial institutions were on the rise, with BNP Paribas up 1 percent and UniCredit up 1.1 percent. U.S. non-farm payrolls numbers are expected to show more job losses in the world's biggest economy. Economists in a Reuters survey forecast a loss of 60,000 jobs in the United States in March, compared with a loss of 63,000 in February. "It could picture a continuing decline in the U.S. employment market, as over the past two months. The recent reading on jobless claims, of the employment components of the ISM manufacturing and nonmanufacturing suggest such a trend, even if the ADP private employment survey showed a positive reading in March," Global Equities analysts wrote in a note.
