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An employee wearing a protective uniform works on a high speed production line of insulin at a factory of the global healthcare company Novo Nordisk..

Stocks in Europe moved grudgingly higher on Friday ahead of a key report on the U.S. labor market, with defensive sectors leading the advance.

The Stoxx Europe 600

SXXP, +0.22%

 gained 0.29% to 378.57. Pharmaceuticals including Novo Nordisk

NOVO.B, +1.76%

 , food producers such as Danone

BN, +0.31%

 , and household product makers like Reckitt Benckiser

RB, +0.72%

 gained ground.

After a one-day break, the German DAX

DAX, +0.02%

 gained 0.17% to 11945.37.

The French CAC 40

PX1, +0.16%

  rose 0.26% to 5452.85 and the U.K. FTSE 100

UKX, +0.33%

 added 0.42% to 7107.07.

After a week of rough readings on purchasing managers indexes — the Stoxx 600 has dropped over 3% over the last 5 days — nonfarm payrolls data is due at 8:30 a.m. Eastern.

Economists polled by MarketWatch forecast the U.S. added 147,000 new jobs last month. See jobs preview.

U.S. stocks staged a reversal on Thursday, closing higher after initially dropping when weak service-sector data was released. After the close of trading, Fed Vice Chair Richard Clarida said the risk of a recession is low — if the central bank gets interest-rate policy right.

A report that Apple has asked iPhone 11 suppliers to boost production gave a lift to the European tech sector, with sensor maker ams

AMS, +3.01%

  and chip producers

STM, +2.11%

 and Dialog Semiconductor

DLG, +2.81%

  advancing.

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