U.S. stock futures nudged higher and Treasury yields edged lower in midday European trade on Friday, as investors held positions steady ahead of crucial U.S. jobs data.

Sovereign bonds that had been hammered earlier this week steadied and stocks rallied Thursday, with sentiment turning positive following comments from Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller.

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The policymaker signaled that the Fed might not need to hike rates later this month if August inflation data are soft. In response, traders toned down their rate-hike bets, with the market now pricing around a 50-50 chance that the Fed holds rates steady.

Yields on 10-year Treasurys fell 0.05 basis points to 4.767%, while yields on 30-year bonds slipped 0.6 basis points to 5.245%. However, a hotter-than-expected nonfarm payrolls report later Friday could revive expectations for higher rates.

Oil prices were on pace for their largest weekly gain since mid-July as a flare-up in U.S.-Iran hostilities provoked fears of prolonged supply disruption. U.S. Vice President JD Vance told a press briefing that the conflict isn't a war, but his comments did little to cool markets as Brent crude continued to trade above $95 a barrel.

In equity markets, Asian stocks rallied, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average advancing 1.3% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index up 2%. SoftBank Group jumped 11% after OpenAI, in which the Tokyo-listed investment group has a major stake—released its latest model release, Astra.

U.S. stock futures were mostly in the green. Futures for the S&P 500 were 0.05% higher after the index notched its best day in a month Thursday. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.1%, while Nasdaq futures rose 0.5%.

Hyperscaler stocks advance in premarket trade, with Nvidia—up 1.2%—continuing to advance after it agreed to acquire Hugging Face on Thursday. Adobe shares fell around 2.8% premarket following the appointment of a new chief executive. Meanwhile, Lululemon shares cratered over 20% after the athleisure brand once again cut its outlook.

Artificial intelligence-related stocks led European indexes higher, with ASML, the continent's most valuable company, adding 1.6%. Automaker Volkswagen also gained, jumping close to 6% after its board agreed to double job cuts to 100,000. The Europe-wide Stoxx 600 was 0.1% higher.