By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European stock markets dropped sharply
Friday afternoon, after U.S. nonfarm-payrolls data came in
substantially below expectations.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index slid 1.8% to 286.54, the lowest level
in over a month.
Data from the U.S. Labor Department showed just 88,000 jobs were
added to the economy in March, far short of expectations for a gain
of 190,000 and the smallest increase in 10 months.
While the unemployment rate ticked down to 7.6% from 7.7%, it
reflected fewer Americans looking for work, according to the
data.
U.S. stock futures pointed to lower open on Wall Street.
Employment data out earlier this week, including the ADP
private-payrolls report and initial jobless claims, all painted a
less optimistic picture of the recovery in the labor market than
expected, which had already fueled fears that Friday's data would
considerably miss expectations.
In Europe, data showed retail sales for the euro area fell 0.3%
in February month-on-month.
Airlines stocks were among hardest-hit sectors in Europe, on
rising fears that the bird-flu virus would impact air travel. The
death toll from the H7N9 virus in China rose to four people
according to authorities in Shanghai.
Shares of Air France-KLM slumped 6.5%, Deutsche Lufthansa AG
shaved off 5.1% and International Consolidated Airlines Group SA
gave up 7.3%.
Shares of EasyJet PLC lost 6.5% in London, after the budget
airliner said it now expects a first-half pretax loss between 60
million pounds ($91.4 million) and GBP65 million, compared with the
previous guidance of a GBP50 million to GBP75 million loss.
Among country-specific indexes in Europe, France's CAC 40 index
dropped 2% to 3,651.49, with shares of BNP Paribas SA down 2.8% and
Credit Agricole SA 2.3% lower.
Banks were also lower in Germany, where Deutsche Bank AG (DB)
lost 1.2% and Commerzbank AG fell 1.1%
The DAX 30 index slumped 2% to 7,662.80.
The FTSE 100 index traded 1.8% lower at 6,230.04, with
heavyweight bank HSBC Holdings PLC (HBC) off 2.1%.
Shares of fashion retailer Next PLC gave up 2.9% in London, as
Credit Suisse cut the firm to neutral from outperform.
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