Europe close: Stocks mostly higher after latest US jobs report
Stocks finished off their lows of the session, helped by a strong US jobs report for February and news of a possible thawing in relations between the US and North Korea.
Indeed, on Friday afternoon the US Department of Labor reported that non-farm payrolls in the States jumped by 313,000 last month, dwarfing economists' forecasts calling for a gain of 195,000.
Thus, by the closing bell the benchmark Stoxx 600 had advanced by 0.43% or 1.62 points to 378.24, alongside a dip of 0.07% or 8.89 points in the German Dax to 12,346.68, while the Cac-40 was up by 0.39% or 20.30 points to 5,274.40.
Meanwhile, euro/dollar was 0.17% lower to 1.2294, while the yield on the German 10-year Bund was bouncing back by two basis points and at 0.65%, following the prior session's sharp drop after the European Central Bank sounded a more dovish than expected note.
Furthermore, overnight the White House announced the US president had agreed to meet the North Korean dictator before May, helping to boost sentiment.
Investors also drew a degree of comfort from news that for now the White House had granted Canada and Mexico an exemption from the steel and aluminium tariffs that were set to enter into effect in a fortnight's time.
"This week's gains do need to be put in the context of the bigger declines seen at the end of last week, which saw the FTSE100 and the DAX open this week at one year lows.
"The rebounds this week have also been helped, particularly in Asia, by last night's reports that US President Trump would be meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un with a view to discussing nuclear de-escalation, in a historic move," said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK.
Economic data was on the soft side at the end of the week.
French industrial production fell back sharply in January, falling by 2.0% when compared to December, with declines seen across all the main categories, led by falls in Mining and Construction output of 6.7% and 7.6%, respectively, INSEE said.
Spanish industrial production was also weaker, shrinking by an outsized 2.6% during the same month (consensus: 0.1%) as energy ouput fell back by an outsized 7.5%, although production of capital goods also weakened, falling by 2.3%, according to INE.
German industrial production undershot forecasts as well, with the country's Ministry of Finance reporting a dip of 0.1% month-on-month (consensus: 0.5%).
In the corporate space, Airbus was again making headlines, with Bloomberg reporting that India's largest carrier, IndiGo, might be set to purchase up to 50 SE A330 wide-body jets from the Leiden, Netherlands-based manufacturer.
Further South, according to analysts at Banco Sabadell, Telefonica could generate €8.4bn by selling its German arm, which would help to accelerate its attempts delever its balance sheet.
Banco Sabadell stuck to a 'buy' recommendation for the shares.