Europe shares set to climb, boosted by UK vote

European shares appear set for a bounce Friday, likely buoyed by a positive lead from Wall Street overnight and Asian trading earlier in the day as well as a more decisive-than-expected U.K. election outcome.

The U.K. election shock results, with incumbent Conservative Party confounding pollsters and appearing likely to win enough seats to come just shy of a majority, may galvanize the London market. Heading into the voting, polls had suggested the country would face parliamentary gridlock with no clear majority.

"The forecast result would remove a great deal of uncertainty for markets. It should also be positive for sterling and equities. However, it should be remembered that the Conservative party have promised a referendum on EU membership for 2017," analysts at Jefferies said in a note Friday, adding that it remained modestly bullish on the U.K. market.

Sterling surged on the news, fetching around $1.5511, compared with around $1.5253 overnight.

But traders may have some hesitancy ahead of the U.S. nonfarm payrolls report due later in the global day, with the data likely closely watched for clues on the strength of the economy across the pond. The U.S. economy is expected to have added 208,000 jobs in April, according to forecasts from a Reuters poll, which would mark a recovery from March's 126,000 jobs, the worst report since December 2013.

Shares in Asia gained ground despite China's trade data coming in worse than expected, with April exports down 6.4 percent from the year-ago period, while imports tumbled 16.2 percent, underscoring concerns over the slowdown in the world's second-biggest economy.

Among stocks likely in focus, Swiss-listed Syngenta and U.S.-listed Monsanto are considering a merger deal that could create an agricultural giant, sources told Reuters.