Mayur Pahilajani - AHN News Writer
London, UK (AHN) - European stocks turned volatile on Friday as the markets scrambled to lock in profits with only one trading day left in the week, following a weak monthly U.S. jobs data.
Analysts are hoping for the sell-off to ease down in the region as there are still some "green shoots" to provide direction along the bumpy ride to global economic recovery.
"Digging deeper into the US employment report, we note an undeniable impact of school leavers, the influx of which made for a disproportionate negative impact on jobs figures," The Financial Times quoted analysts at Rabobank as saying today.
"Clearly this is an extremely tough environment to find a job. This fuels our fear of only a very timid US economic rebound during the upcoming quarters," they added.
The markets in the U.S. are closed Friday for the Independence Day holiday.
The pan-European Dow Jones Stoxx 600 moved down on Friday by 0.15 percent to 204.12 at 10:55 a.m. GMT, reducing the year-to-year losses to 28.08 percent from 2008 to 2009.
At 9:51 a.m., London's FTSE 100 index traded slightly higher by 0.08 points at 234.35 points. Frankfurt's DAX was moving north by 6.91 points or 0.15 percent at 4,725.40 points.
At the same time, the CAC 40 in Paris was trading down by 8.31 points or 0.27 percent at 3,108.10 points.
Among the financials, shares of Commerzbank AG, Germany's second largest bank, jumped by 3.7 percent as the country's lawmakers prepare to vote on Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck's plan to cleanse banks of toxic assets.
The country's financial sector has been waiting for the measure for more than nine months since the start of the financial crisis. The reports said the coalition led by German Chancellor Angela Merkel have been waiting to introduce the proposal just ahead of the Sept. 27 national elections.
Barclays (NYSE:BCS), the Britain's largest lender, gained by almost 1 percent. HSBC Holdings Plc (NYSE:HBC), which is Europe's largest bank, was up by 0.8 percent.
Lloyds Banking Group increased by 1.4 percent and Royal Bank of Scotland (NYSE:RBS) edged higher by 1.2 percent in London trading.
The banking sector has posted sustainable gains in their equities by advancing by almost 45 percent in the quarter that ended on June 30.
Insurance group Friends Provident gained by 2.7 percent in early trading session, following reports that a court has cleared its decision to demerge its stake in F&C Asset Management.
The company said that shareholders will receive one share in F&C for every 10 shares held in its ex-parent company. The stock of F&C advanced by 3 percent on Friday.
In the technology sector, Logitech International SA (NasdaqGS: LOGI) increased by 2.3 percent in Zurich trading today on news that Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) has recommended the world's biggest maker of computer mice to "overweight" in a resumed coverage on Friday.
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