European Markets Finished Mixed After U.S. Jobs Report

(RTTNews) - The European markets ended Friday's session with mixed results. The stronger than expected U.S. jobs report for October has convinced most investors that the Federal Reserve will begin hiking interest rates in December. Meanwhile, economic data in the Eurozone was disappointing, with weaker than expected reads on German and British industrial production.

The U.S. jobs report sparked further gains in the U.S. dollar and further weakness in the Euro. Mining stocks were weak as commodity prices came under pressure. Luxury goods companies were also down following the disappointing financial report from Richemont. However, financial and bank stocks were among the best performing stocks.

Job growth in the U.S. showed a substantial reacceleration in the month of October, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Friday. The report said non-farm payroll employment jumped by 271,000 jobs in October following a downwardly revised increase of 137,000 jobs in September.

Economists had expected an increase of about 185,000 jobs compared to the addition of 142,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

The strong job growth helped push the unemployment rate down to 5.0 percent in October from 5.1 percent in September, matching economist estimates. With the modest decrease, the unemployment rate fell to its lowest level since hitting a matching rate in April of 2008.

The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks increased 0.60 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, added 0.02 percent.

The DAX of Germany climbed 0.92 percent and the CAC 40 of France rose 0.08 percent. The FTSE of the U.K. dropped 0.17 percent and the SMI of Switzerland finished lower by 0.22 percent.

In Frankfurt, Allianz fell 1.10 percent after reporting third-quarter results.

Commerzbank increased 2.48 percent and Deutsche Bank added 1.76 percent.

Daimler gained 2.32 percent and BMW advanced 3.52 percent.

In Paris, Sanofi plunged 6.84 percent, after stating that it does not expect to show any meaningful bottom line growth over 2016-2017.

BNP Paribas advanced 3.11 percent and Societe Generale added 2.85 percent. Credit Agricole also finished higher by 1.90 percent.

In London, BHP Billiton declined 5.71 percent as its mining dam collapsed in Brazil, killing about 16 people in flooding.

AstraZeneca decreased 0.49 percent, after it agreed to acquire U.S. company, ZS Pharma.

International Consolidated Airlines Group gained 3.70 percent, after it raised its growth target for 2016 to 2020 to over 12 percent a year.

Intercontinental Hotels Group climbed 6.20 percent on reports that it is exploring a possible sale of the company.

Inmarsat, which reported financial results, rose 3.24 percent.

Richemont sank 5.66 percent in Zurich, after its results for the first half of the year fell short of expectations. Swatch also weakened by 4.25 percent.

Syngenta jumped 4.11 percent on reports that it is involved in discussions with DuPont regarding a potential combination.

ArcelorMittal, which reported third-quarter results, climbed 0.44 percent in Amsterdam.

German industrial production unexpectedly decreased for a second straight month in September, signaling that the slowdown in emerging markets, especially China, have began to hurt demand.

Industrial production declined a seasonally-and-calendar adjusted 1.1 percent from the previous month, preliminary data from Destatis showed Friday. Economists had forecast a 0.5 percent increase. August's decrease was revised up to 0.6 percent from 1.2 percent.

The French trade deficit increased to a four-month high in September due to a fall in exports, the customs office said Friday. The trade shortfall came in at EUR 3.38 billion in September compared to EUR 2.97 billion in the prior month. It was forecast to rise to EUR 3.05 billion.

U.K. industrial production declined in September on the back of a sharp fall in oil and gas extraction, while manufacturing growth gained momentum, the Office for National Statistics reported Friday. Separate data showed that the visible trade deficit narrowed to a three-month low in September as exports increased amid falling imports.

Industrial production dropped 0.2 percent in September from August, when it rose 0.9 percent. Production was expected to fall marginally by 0.1 percent.

The U.K. visible trade deficit narrowed more-than-expected in September, the Office for National Statistics reported Friday. The deficit on trade in goods fell to GBP 9.4 billion from GBP 10.8 billion in August. It was forecast to decline to GBP 10.6 billion.