U.S. equity indices ended Thursday's session in the red, with the S&P 500 retreating nearly 0.4%, 'due to questions regarding the validity of the ceasefire between the United States and Iran', according to Deutsche Bank.

'Indeed, there has been a clear escalation in recent hours, with U.S. strikes on targets in Iran in response to Iranian fire on three U.S. warships in the Strait of Hormuz', the German bank noted.

'And in return, Donald Trump posted that 'we will hit them much harder, and much more violently, in the future, if they don't sign their deal, FAST!'', Deutsche Bank continued in its morning note.

All eyes on the U.S. employment report

The session is expected to be dominated by the early afternoon release of the official U.S. employment report for April, which could help gauge the impact of the geopolitical context on the American labor market.

According to the consensus, economists expect a further slowdown in April, with only 62,000 non-farm payrolls anticipated, compared to 178,000 the previous month, and a steady unemployment rate at 4.3%.

'Since last summer, each monthly employment report has contradicted the previous one, alternating between positive signals (January and March) and negative signals (December and February)', Oddo BHF noted earlier this week.

'The average of these erratic movements is a stabilization of the pace of job creation near zero and an unemployment rate moving within a narrow range of 4% to 4.5%', the research firm added.

German industrial production and trade surplus decline

Pending this major session milestone, investors took note of the 0.7% decline in German industrial production in March compared to the previous month, following a 0.5% drop in February, according to Destatis.

Furthermore, Germany's trade surplus narrowed to 14.3 billion euros in March, down from 19.6 billion euros the previous month, due to a 5.1% increase in imports against a mere 0.5% rise in exports.

Major acquisition completed for Engie in the UK

In Paris corporate news, Engie announced on Thursday evening the completion of its 100% acquisition of the British electricity distributor UK Power Networks, nearly two months ahead of the original schedule.

The private hospital group Ramsay Santé published nine-month results marked by a notable improvement in operational performance, with revenue notably crossing the 4 billion euro threshold.

Renewable energy group Voltalia announced the commissioning of three solar farms in southern France, specifically two in the Bouches-du-Rhône and one in the Alpes-Maritimes, for a total capacity of 26.9 megawatts.