By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European stock markets headed for weekly
gains on Friday, with investors hoping the highly anticipated U.S.
jobs data will give them more to cheer about, after a dovish
European Central Bank sent markets higher yesterday.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index climbed 0.3% to 338.17, on track for
its highest close since early October and for a 0.4% weekly
advance.
France's CAC 40 index rose 0.1% to 4,233.31 while Germany's DAX
30 index picked up 0.2% to 9,399.76. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index
added 0.8% to 6,605.29, boosted by oil firms and miners.
The euro (EURUSD) recovered slightly after a slide on Thursday
on the back of comments from ECB President Mario Draghi that the
central bank is ready to adopt new easing measures if needed. The
shared currency traded at $1.2400, up from $1.2376 late
Thursday.
Data: Investors were keenly awaiting the nonfarm-payrolls report
from the U.S. due at 1:30 p.m. London time, or 8:30 a.m. Eastern
Time. Economists expect another solid number, which would confirm
the upbeat picture of the labor market conveyed in the Federal
Reserve's statement last week.
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% 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 11% after the wind
turbine manufacturer raised its full-year earnings forecast and
swung to a profit in the third quarter.
Allianz SE climbed 4.9% after the German insurer increased its
dividend-payout ratio.
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