On Friday European shares rose in early trade led by banks, after a late rally on Wall Street spurred by optimism about the recovery and hopes that US monetary policy will continue to support equities. Asian stocks advanced and US futures were little changed.

Traders awaited key US labour numbers, after data on Thursday showed initial jobless claims fell more than expected last week. The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up, after ending flat in the previous session.

Heavyweight banks to gain included Intesa SanPaolo, Barclays, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank and UniCredit, up between 1 and 2.4%.

Swedish banking group SEB rose 2%after offering signs its key corporate lending business was finally starting to pick up when posting fourth-quarter earnings that comfortably beat forecasts. But Nordea fell 2.4% after the Swedish government announced plans to sell up to 6.3% of its shares in the top Nordic bank.

US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Thursday that the economy still needs help from the central bank, which was taken as a sign that monetary policy will remain accommodative for now. Unrest in Egypt was keeping markets on edge.

US stock index futures pointed to a largely flat open for Wall Street, after the Dow recorded its highest closing level since June 19, 2008. The most-watched economic report will be the nonfarm payrolls data, due later in the day. Analysts expect the economy to have added 145,000 jobs in January after the 103,000 in December, while the unemployment rate is seen rising to 9.5% from 9.4%.

Japanese stocks rose, sending benchmark indexes to their highest levels since the 19th January, as steelmakers surged on a merger proposal and some company earnings improved.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 1.1% while the broader Topix gained 0.8 percent.