* Market higher ahead of U.S. non-farm payrolls data
* Prospect of ECB rate hikes in focus after hawkish meeting
* Oil higher, equities gain
(Adds Wall Street futures)
By Jeremy Gaunt, European Investment Correspondent
LONDON, March 4 (Reuters) - Hopes of an improved U.S.
employment picture lifted shares on Friday, but the prospect of
higher interest rates in Europe and a rising oil price kept
other world markets on edge.
U.S. stock index futures pointed to a slightly higher open
for Wall Street, adding to hefty gains on Thursday, but this is
likely to depend on the U.S. jobless report to be released
before the open.
Analysts expecting employers to have hired more workers in
February than in any month since May last year.
That would feed into the widespread belief that the U.S.
economy is in recovery mode and that the improvement should soon
trickle down into lagging consumer sentiment.
At the same time, however, improved global growth is raising
inflation pressures, particularly threatening at the moment with
Middle East and North African political turmoil driving oil
prices to levels that could hurt recovery.
Brent crude futures for April delivery <LCOc1> were up 64
cents at $115.43 a barrel, off their highs.
The prospect of higher inflation prompted the European
Central Bank on Thursday to indicate it could raise interest
rates as soon as next month, a hawkishness that stunned many in
the market.
Stock markets were nonetheless relatively buoyant on Friday,
lifted by economic optimism even if a number of market
participants said it was a tenuous stance.
"Any shortfall in the U.S. non-farm payrolls, or any
flare-ups on the geopolitical front could see the risk appetite
ebbing away once again," said Chris Weston, institutional trader
at IG Markets.
World stocks as measured by MSCI <.MIWD00000PUS> were up 0.4
percent, taking the index up nearly 1.5 percent and not far from
a new 30-month high.
The FTSEurofirst 300 <> was up 0.4 percent and Japan's
Nikkei <> gained 1 percent.
EURO BOOST
The euro hit a four-month high against the dollar, lifted by
the competing push-pull of higher euro zone interest rates and a
stronger U.S. economy.
"We should see better non-farm payrolls figures, but if U.S.
yields don't rise, it won't help the dollar," said Marcus
Hettinger, global FX strategist at Credit Suisse in Zurich.
"Interest rate differentials ... are playing in favour of
the euro, so we could see a break above $1.40 any time now."
Speculation of an ECB rate rise has expanded the yield
spread between two-year German <DE2YT=TWEB> and U.S. government
debt <US2YT=RR>, the most sensitive maturity to official rate
moves, to its widest since January 2009.
The euro <EUR=> was flat to slightly higher at $1.3970. The
dollar was flat against a basket of currencies <.DXY>.
The euro zone bond market was little changed ahead of the
jobs data and following a sell off on Thursday.
(Additional reporting by Naomi Tajitsu and Harpreet Bhal;
editing by Patrick Graham)
