Ahead of the NFP jobs report out on Friday, investors will focus on labor market data as they try to adjust for the upcoming government data.

Private payroll processor ADP will release its own report on employment change for June at 12:15 GMT, amid expectations for the creation of 185,000 jobs.

While the ADP report often shows wide divergences with the government data, it is still considered an important indicator for the U.S. labor market.

Also on the labor front, market players will also check weekly jobless claims at 12:30 GMT.

At 14:00 GMT, the service sector will be on watch as the Institute of Supply Management (ISM) releases its non-manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for June.

Market players were keeping an eye on international issues as China's foreign ministry called on Thursday for all sides to remain calm and exercise restraint after the United States said it was ready to use force, if need be, to halt North Korea's nuclear missile program.

Market players kept on eye on developments even as U.S. President Donald Trump visited Poland to meet up with NATO allies.

This was ahead of the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany on Friday and Saturday. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she expects there to be “difficult discussions” even as her country’s Foreign Minister said he’s worried that Trump could “start a trade war with Europe”.

Global stocks traded mostly lower on Thursday as markets digested the minutes from the last policy meeting of the Federal Reserve (Fed) and kept an eye on geopolitical issues.

Minutes released on Wednesday after the European market close showed that Fed policymakers were increasingly split on the outlook for inflation and how it might affect the future pace of interest rate rises.

Market participants kept a close watch on political developments surrounding North Korea’s launch earlier this week of an intercontinental ballistic missile with the U.S. declaring that it was prepared to respond with force.

Markets also looked ahead to the kickoff of the 2-day G20 meeting with a particular eye on whether U.S. President Donald Trump will follow a protectionist path in world trade agreements.

Looking ahead, the minutes from the latest meeting of the European Central Bank (ECB) will be released at 11:30 GMT.

Last week, comments from ECB president Mario Draghi rocked markets on the back of their interpretation that the leader of the euro area monetary authority had become more hawkish.

ECB “sources” had to leak the opinion that markets had misinterpreted the message.

In that light, investors will likely pay close attention to the minutes which tend to go unnoticed as they search for clues on any discussions of further tweaks to the ECB’s forward guidance or possible hints at a plan for tapering asset purchases.

Oil prices regained ground on Thursday, jumping more than 1%, after an industry report late in the prior session showed a far larger-than-expected crude inventory drawdown.

Data from industry group The American Petroleum Institute late Wednesday showed that U.S. crude inventories fell by 5.8 million barrels, compared to expectations for a draw of just 1.6 million.

The Energy Information Administration was to release its inventory report at 15:00 GMT on Thursday, with analysts expecting a drawdown of 2.28 million barrels.

Both reports come one day later than usual because of this week’s Independence Day holiday.