European stocks rose weakly on Friday ahead of the release of US Department of Labor data on the number of jobs and unemployment for September.
The composite index of the largest enterprises in Europe Stoxx Europe 600 rose by 0.1% to 396.75 points as of 12:30 p.m.
German DAX and French CAC 40 add about 0.1%, British FTSE 100 – 0.12%, Italian FTSE MIB – 0.22%. The Spanish IBEX 35 loses 0.44%.
The consensus forecast of experts surveyed by Market Watch suggests that the number of jobs in the United States last month increased by 275 thousand (315 thousand in August), while maintaining unemployment at 3.7%.
The situation on the US labor market is a key factor influencing the policy of the Federal Reserve System (FRS), and the signals of “cooling” of the market, according to experts, may hold back a further rise in rates by the US Central Bank.
Fed officials speaking on Thursday, however, signaled that it is too early for the Fed to think about a pause in the tightening cycle as inflation eases slowly.
European Central Bank (ECB) officials, meanwhile, are concerned about “self-increasing inflationary pressures” in the eurozone, showed the minutes of the September meeting of the Central Bank, during which all three key interest rates were raised by 75 basis points (bp).
“The nature of the pricing process has changed and inflationary pressures are becoming self-intensifying to the extent that even an expected economic slowdown will not be enough to bring consumer price growth back in line with the ECB’s target,” the minutes released on Thursday show.
German economic statistics released on Friday showed a sharper-than-expected decline in both the country’s industrial output and retail sales in August.
At the same time, the cost of imports to Germany the month before last soared by 32.7% in annual terms – the highest rate since March 1974, against the backdrop of a fourfold jump in gas prices, the country’s Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) reported.
Industrial production in Germany in August decreased by 0.8% compared to July. Analysts polled by Trading Economics had expected a decline of 0.5% on average. Construction volumes decreased by 2.1%, electricity generation fell by 6.1%, production in the processing industry decreased by 0.1%.
Retail sales in Germany in August fell by 1.3% compared to the previous month, while experts had expected a decline of 1.1%.
In Italy, retail sales fell 0.4% in August from a 1.3% rise in July.
Quotes of bank shares rise on Friday due to expectations of further rate hikes by the European Central Bank. Deutsche Bank rose 0.4%, Societe Generale – 0.8%, BNP Paribas – 0.2%, UniCredit – 0.3%.
Shares of Credit Suisse rose 5.8%. The Swiss bank said it was willing to spend about $3 billion to buy back its own bonds to save on interest payments.
Adidas AG lost 1.4% on information that the company is reviewing its partnership with American rapper Kanye West due to growing disagreements between the parties.
Shares of European semiconductor manufacturers STMicroelectronics and Capgemini fell 1% and 1.7%, respectively, after the release of weak preliminary reports from US chip maker AMD.
