Investors Await Key U.S. Bank Earnings

U.S. financial stocks are hit hard ahead of earnings reports from big banks. JPMorgan Chase (JPM) - Get Report , Bank of America (BAC) - Get Report and Wells Fargo (WFC) - Get Report will release quarterly performance results Friday morning.

Britain's FTSE 100 is set to extend its record run of gains. London's main share index secured its 13th consecutive closing high on Thursday.

There is a larger-than-expected fall in China's exports, but that seems to fail to unsettle investors. Crude oil imports hit a record 8.56 million barrels per day over the same period.

A selloff in U.S. financial and tech stocks has been dragging Wall Street lower. The sales put an end to a record-breaking streak for the Nasdaq.