European Markets Finished Higher After U.S. Jobs Report

(RTTNews) - The European markets ended Friday's session in positive territory. The markets initially retreated after U.S. non-farm employment growth came in weaker than expected. However, the markets recovered and posted gains in late trade. The U.S. unemployment rate unexpectedly decreased in January, which should allow the Fed should continue to wind down its asset purchases.

U.S. job growth accelerated in the month of January compared to the anemic growth seen in December, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Friday, although the pace of growth still fell well short of economist estimates.

The report said non-farm payroll employment increased by 113,000 jobs in January following a slightly upwardly revised increase of 75,000 jobs in December. Economists had been expecting employment to climb by about 180,000 jobs compared to the addition of 74,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

Despite the weaker than expected job growth, the unemployment rate still edged down to 6.6 percent in January from 6.7 percent in December. The unemployment rate had been expected to come in unchanged.

The U.K. economy may grow more than previously projected as consumer spending supported by buoyant housing market is set to drive domestic demand further, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research said in its report on Friday.

Gross domestic product will grow 2.5 percent in 2014 instead of 2 percent, the think tank said. For 2015, the economy is forecast to expand 2.1 percent. "The UK's economic recovery has become entrenched," it said.

The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks increased by 0.89 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, added 0.69 percent.

The DAX of Germany climbed by 0.49 percent and the CAC 40 of France advanced by 0.96 percent. The FTSE 100 of the U.K. rose by 0.20 percent and the SMI of Switzerland gained 1.22 percent.

In Frankfurt, ThyssenKrupp gained 2.37 percent and Salzgitter added 1.85 percent, after peer ArcelorMittal reported a narrower quarterly loss. ArcelorMittal surged by 0.97 percent in Paris.

Air Liquide climbed by 1.90 percent in Paris. Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to ''Overweight'' from ''Equalweight.''

Air France-KLM, which reported traffic data, decreased by 3.49 percent.

In London, Glencore Xstrata finished up by 1.13 percent. Bloomberg reported that Glencore's Las Bambas copper project in Peru may be bought by a Chinese group led by China Minmetals Corp. for over $5 billion.

JP Morgan upgraded Tate & Lyle to ''Overweight'' from ''Underweight.'' The stock gained 1.77 percent.

EMS-Chemie increased by 3.81 percent in Stockholm. The company reported annual results today.

Skanska dropped by 2.46 percent, after its fourth quarter results fell short of expectations.

German industrial production declined unexpectedly in December after recovering in November, official data revealed Friday. Output fell 0.6 percent from November, when it was up by revised 2.4 percent, the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology said. Production was expected to rise 0.3 percent.

Germany's foreign trade surplus in 2013 hit the highest value since the beginning of compiling foreign trade statistics, provisional data from the Federal Statistical Office showed Friday. The foreign trade surplus increased to EUR 198.9 billion in 2013 from EUR 189.8 billion surplus in 2012 as the decline in imports outpaced fall in exports. Exports dipped 0.2 percent and imports fell 1.2 percent.

France's foreign trade deficit eased more-than-expected in December, driven by strong growth in exports, latest data revealed Friday. December's foreign trade resulted in a deficit of EUR5.21 billion, which was lower than the EUR5.67 billion deficit seen a month earlier, the customs office said.

In December 2012, the balance was a shortfall of EUR5.59 billion. Economists were looking for a shortfall of EUR5.05 billion for December 2013.

U.K. industrial production recovered at a slower than expected pace in December, suggesting a slightly weaker outcome from manufacturing than the findings of business surveys at the end of 2013. Industrial production grew 0.4 percent from November, the Office for National Statistics said on Friday. Economists had expected output to grow 0.6 percent, after falling 0.1 percent in November.

The U.K.'s visible trade deficit narrowed more than expected in December, data released by the Office for National Statistics revealed Friday. The shortfall fell to GBP 7.7 billion in December from GBP 9.8 billion in November. Economists had forecast a decline to GBP 9.3 billion.