Meanwhile, the German Finance Ministry plans to cut its net borrowing in 2014 to EUR 6-8 billion from the EUR 17.1 planned this year, Der Spiegel reported, citing government sources.
Asian stocks are turning in a mixed performance as a fall in Japan's core machinery orders last month and disappointing data out of China on industrial output, lending and retail sales tempered optimism over the positive U.S. jobs report. Japan's Nikkei index rose half a percent on a weaker yen, Australia's All Ordinaries index added 0. 7 percent in choppy trading and Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 0.3 percent, while benchmark indexes in China, Indonesia, Malaysia and South Korea are subdued.
Data out of Japan showed the nation's core machinery orders plummeted a seasonally adjusted 13.1 percent in January from the previous month, marking its first decline in four months. On a yearly basis, core machine orders dropped 9.7 percent.
Official data released over the weekend showed China's inflation hit a 10-month high in February, while reports on industrial production, retail sales and lending came in below analyst forecasts, painting quite a mixed picture about the nation's export outlook.
Across the Atlantic, investors will be closely watching reports on retail sales, industrial production, and producer and consumer price inflation to determine the strength of the economic recovery in the face of federal budget cuts and higher payroll taxes.
Closer home, German exports grew at a faster than expected pace of 1.4 percent in January from a month ago, data from the Federal Statistical Office showed. Economists had forecast exports to rise 0.5 percent from 0.2 percent in December.
In corporate news, John Craven, Michael Blaha and Michael Nolan, the key figures who led to the creation and $1.9 billion sale of London-listed Cove Energy in 2012, have joined hands again to raise funds to explore oil and gas in waters off Mozambique, the Financial Times reported.
Irish-Swiss bakery group Aryzta AG reported profit attributable to equity shareholders for the six-month period ended 31 January 2013 of EUR 62.05 million, down from EUR 71.86 million in the year-ago period.
Great Portland Estates Plc said it has exchanged contracts to acquire Orchard Court, Portman Square, W1, from Rosanna Holdings, for 37 million pounds.
European stocks posted broad-based gains on Friday, with upbeat economic data out of China, Japan and the U.S. underpinning sentiment. The Euro Stoxx 50 index of Eurozone bluechip stocks gained 1.4 percent and the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, added 0.9 percent, while benchmark indexes in Switzerland, Germany, the U.K. and France rose between half a percent and 1.2 percent.
U.S. stocks rose on Friday after positive export data out of China and a surprisingly strong jobs report suggested the global economic recovery was on track. The Dow rose half a percent to set a fresh record closing high and the S&P 500 also added half a percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq advanced 0.4 percent.