Investing.com - European stock markets traded in a subdued manner Friday, stagnating near record highs ahead of the keenly-awaited monthly US payrolls report.
At 06:00 ET (11:00 GMT), the DAX index in Germany traded largely unchanged, while the CAC 40 in France edged 0.2% lower and the FTSE 100 in the UK fell 0.3%.
Nonfarm payrolls data due
The pan-European STOXX 600 index closed at a record high on Thursday, helped by mostly robust company earnings.
European stocks have staged their best performance in a decade against Wall Street in the first six weeks of 2025, but doubts remain on whether these gains can be sustained given the weakness of the eurozone economy.
German industrial production fell more than expected in December, according to data released earlier Friday, decreasing by 2.4% compared with the previous month, weaker than the 0.6% fall expected.
Investors are cautiously awaiting the release of the all-important US jobs report for January, due later in the session, for more cues on potential monetary policy easing by the Federal Reserve going forward.
Traders were seen bracing for a potentially strong payrolls reading, with the US economy tipped to have added 154,000 roles in January, after surging 256,000 in the prior month, while the unemployment rate is seen matching December’s pace of 4.1%.
Strength in the labor market gives the Federal Reserve more headroom to keep interest rates at high levels for longer - a scenario that weighs on growth in the world’s largest economy.
Danske Bank offers up solid Q4
There are more quarterly earnings for investors to digest as the week comes to an end.
Danske Bank (CSE:DANSKE) stock rose 6% after the Danish lender reported solid financial results for the fourth quarter of 2024, supported by strong growth in core banking income, disciplined cost management, and credit quality.
Banco de Sabadell (BME:SABE) stock fell 0.7% despite the Spanish lender reporting strong fourth quarter results with net profit rising by 75% compared to the same period in 2023, citing continued growth in net interest income, lower provisions, and improvements in asset quality.
Saab (ST:SAABb) stock fell 3% after the Swedish defence equipment maker updated its medium-term targets for 2023-2027.
Legal & General (LON:LGEN) stock rose 5% after the British life insurer said it would sell its US protection business to Japan’s Meiji Yasuda for $2.3 billion in cash.
Henkel (ETR:HNKG) stock rose 1.7% after the German consumer goods maker agreed it would sell its retailer brands business in North America to an affiliate of First Quality Enterprises, for an undisclosed amount.
Crude on track for weekly losses
Oil prices edged higher Friday, but were on track for a third straight negative week, hurt by the renewed trade war between China and the US, and the potential of tariff hikes from the Trump administration on other countries.
By 06:00 ET, the US crude futures (WTI) gained 0.8% to $71.12 a barrel, while the Brent contract rose 0.8% to $74.85 a barrel.
Both benchmarks are on track to register losses of around 2% this week.
Trump announced a 10% tariff on Chinese imports earlier this week, but suspended plans to impose steep tariffs on Mexico and Canada. He has also threatened the European Union with duties on exports to the US, as part of a broad plan to improve the US trade balance.