European Stocks Close On Mixed Note After Crucial U.S., European Economic Data

European stocks ended on a mixed note on Friday with investors assessing the latest batch of economic data from the region and the U.S. non-farm payrolls report, for clues about interest-rate trajectory.

The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment in the U.S. surged by 275,000 jobs in February, while economists had expected employment to jump by 200,000 jobs.

The report also said job growth in December and January was downwardly revised to 290,000 and 229,000 jobs, respectively, reflecting a net downward revision of 167,000 jobs.

The unemployment rate rose to 3.9% in February from 3.7% in January. Economists had expected the unemployment rate to come in unchanged.

The downward revisions and the unexpected increase in the unemployment rate combined with a slowdown in the annual rate of wage growth has added to optimism the Federal Reserve will begin lowering interest rates in June.

The pan European Stoxx 600 edged up 0.02%. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 ended 0.43% down, and Germany’s DAX settled lower by 0.16%, and France’s CAC 40 advanced 0.15%. Switzerland’s SMI climbed 0.62%.

Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Finland, Greece, Norway, Poland, Russia, Sweden and Turkiye closed higher.

Austria, Denmark, Iceland, Netherlands, Portugal and Spain ended weak.

In the UK market, DS Smith rallied more than 6% after packaging firm Mondi announced an agreement in principle for a potential all-share offer to acquire its DS Smith for £5.14bn.

Convatec Group gained nearly 4%. Legal & General, BT, Vodafone, Segro, Reckitt Benckiser, Airtel Africa, Land Securities, Unite Group and IMI gained 1 to 2%.

Entain dropped more than 5%. Rentokil Initial, Spirax-Sarco Engineering, St. James’s Place, Mondia, GSK and Ashstead lost 2 to 3%. Melrose Industries, Pearson, Admiral Group, Rio Tinto, Fresnillo, Ocado Group, Croda International, HSBC Holdings, Antofagasta, RS Group and Rolls-Royce Holdings also ended notably lower.

In the German market, Symrise, Vonovia, Beiersdorf, Allianz,…