By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European stock markets ended a volatile
session on a downbeat note on Friday, with the benchmark stock
index erasing its weekly gain.
The weakness came as the closely watched U.S. nonfarm-payrolls
report missed expectations, although the underlying numbers
indicated that labor market is on firm footing. Read: It may have
been the best October jobs report ever
The Stoxx Europe 600 index lost 0.5% to close at 335.25, ending
with a 0.5% weekly slide.
France's CAC 40 index slid 0.9% to 4,189.89 for a 1% weekly
drop. Germany's DAX 30 index fell 0.9% to 9,291.83 and closed out
the week 0.4% lower. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index bucked the negative
trend and added 0.3% to 6,567.24 boosted by oil firms and miners.
The FTSE gained 0.3% for the week.
The euro (EURUSD) recovered slightly after a slide on Thursday
on the back of comments from European Central Bank President Mario
Draghi that the central bank is ready to adopt new easing measures
if needed. The shared currency traded at $1.2426, up from $1.2376
late Thursday.
Data: The keenly watched U.S. nonfarm-payrolls report missed
forecasts, showing that 214,000 were added to the economy in
October.
Although the figure is below a forecast of 243,000, revisions
made to the September figures and a notch down in unemployment rate
to 5.8%, were viewed as positives.
Still, the U.S. markets edged lower.
"I think there's a tinge of disappointment," said Michael
Hewson, market analyst at CMC Markets. "Weekly jobless claims have
recently been below 300,000, the employment component of the ISM
report was good this week, so markets were pricing in a higher
[nonfarm] number."
In European data, industrial-production numbers from Germany
missed forecasts for September. Output from factories rose 1.4%
month-on-month less than the 2% expected by economists polled by
The Wall Street Journal.
Meanwhile, export data were much stronger than expected, jumping
5.5% in September and nearly making up for the 5.8% slide in
August.
French industrial production was flat in September on the month,
which a bit better than the 0.2% decline expected.
Major movers: Vestas Wind Systems AS jumped 17% after the wind
turbine manufacturer raised its full-year earnings forecast and
swung to a profit in the third quarter.
Allianz SE climbed 3.6% after the German insurer increased its
dividend-payout ratio.
Moving closer to financial tax: Eleven European Union countries
that have vowed to impose taxed on financial transactions have
taken a step closer to finding a compromise all can agree on.
Italian Finance Minister Pier Carlo Padoan who led a debate on
Friday said the countries have agreed on the scope of taxation, but
that discussions are still ongoing on taxing derivatives.
Meanwhile, Italy's Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA is
formally seeking a buyer. Italy's third largest bank, and the
world's oldest, was one of the worst performers in Europe's "stress
test" of the financial system.
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opportunities in Europe
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Governments are in trouble, reform efforts have stalled,
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And investors are fleeing. But that's a mistake: The worse the
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Our panel will be led by MarketWatch Columnist Matthew Lynn, a
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joined by Mark Hulbert, MarketWatch columnist and editor of the
Hulbert Financial Digest. This event is free, but RSVPs are
required. It will be held Wednesday evening, Dec. 3, in London. For
more information or to RSVP, send an email to
marketwatchevent@wsj.com
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