Investing.com - European stock markets are expected to edge higher at the open Thursday, benefiting from the strong close on Wall Street overnight as bond yields retreated from recent highs following weaker than expected jobs data. At 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT), the DAX futures contract in Germany traded 0.1% higher, CAC 40 futures in France climbed 0.4% and the FTSE 100 futures contract in the U.K. rose 0.2%. Positive handover from Wall Street The main U.S. equity indexes all posted strong gains on Wednesday, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite leading the way, as the latest private payrolls data rose less than expected in September. This resulted in U.S. Treasury yields easing back from 16-year highs, amid lessening concerns over rising interest rates and the likelihood that the Federal Reserve may need to keep rates higher for longer, helping Asian markets post gains, a positive tone that is likely to continue in Europe. European economic outlook still bleak That said, gains are still likely to be small ahead of Friday’s key U.S. official jobs report for September. Additionally, the economic outlook for the European region continues to look pretty bleak. Eurozone retail sales fell 1.2% in August, data showed Wednesday, much more than expected, pointing to weaker consumer demand as inflation remains high. The final composite Purchasing Managers' Index, also released on Wednesday, indicated that the eurozone economy probably shrank last quarter, making a recession in the second half of the year more likely, as output declined in both services and manufacturing. There is more economic data to digest Thursday, including German trade numbers for August and French and Spanish industrial output for the same month. Crude attempts rebound from Wednesday’s selloff Oil prices edged higher Thursday, rebounding after the previous session’s hefty losses, but will likely struggle to push much higher given the uncertain demand outlook following a significant build in U.S. gasoline inventories. Crude settled more than $5 a barrel lower on Wednesday, the sharpest one-day loss in more than a year, following the release of data showing the largest weekly build in almost two years for stockpiles of U.S. gasoline, suggesting a significant dropoff in demand as the summer driving season ends. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, known as OPEC+, had reaffirmed on Wednesday that Saudi Arabia and Russia would continue to cut output by at least 1.3 million barrels a day until the end of the year. By 02:00 ET, the U.S. crude futures traded 0.5% higher at $84.60 a barrel, while the Brent contract climbed 0.5% to $86.26. Additionally, gold futures rose 0.2% to $1,839.15/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.1% higher at 1.0514.