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July 5 (Reuters) - European shares treaded water in early
deals on Friday, as investors stayed on the sidelines before a
crucial U.S. jobs report, while semiconductor stocks slipped
after Samsung Electronics's downbeat profit forecast.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX was trading flat
near its more than 12-months high by 0704 GMT. It was set for
its fifth straight weekly rise, fuelled by a rally that was set
off by hopes of an easing economic policy from major central
banks and a U.S.-China trade truce.
Technology shares .SX8P retreated 0.9% with Infineon
IFXGn.DE , STMicroelectronics STM.MI and Siltronic WAFGn.DE
slipping between 0.7% and 1.5% after Samsung's 005930.KS dour
forecast showed the impact of U.S.-China trade war on global
chip and smartphone markets. Adding to tech woes, Swedish industrial technology group
Hexagon HEXAb.ST warned of a drop in quarterly revenue due to
the U.S.-China trade war, sending its shares down 14%.
Investors in U.S. financial markets will return from
Independence Day holiday to focus on the non-farm payrolls, due
at 12:30 GMT.
U.S. job growth was likely to rebound in June, but that
would probably not be enough to discourage the Federal Reserve
from cutting interest rates this month amid growing evidence the
economy is slowing. Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE fell 0.2%, more than its peers,
weighed down by declines in mining and energy stocks.