By Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch
MADRID (MarketWatch) -- European stock markets pushed higher on
Friday, as investors look set to claw back some losses from the
prior session and look ahead to a key report on the U.S. labor
market. Sales optimism drove up shares of Swatch Group AG, while
restructuring talk boosted Metro AG.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 0.5% to 329.96, after closing
down 0.4% on Thursday. The European Central Bank left monetary
policy unchanged and its president, Mario Draghi, pledged to take
further action on easing if needed at a meeting a day prior, but
investors were left disappointed by no concrete plans from Draghi
to curb the deflation risk for the euro zone.
Stocks on the move included Swiss watch group Swatch , which
missed its 2013 gross sales target, but said 2014 was looking
positive, saying all brands had gotten off to a strong start in
January. Related stocks also rose, with luxury eyewear group
Luxottica Group SpA up 3.6% and luxury goods group Compagnie
Financiere Richemont SA gaining 2.9%.
Metro AG shares rose 3.3%. Media reports pointed to a report in
Platow Brief, a business newsletter, that said Franz Haniel &
Cie, which has a 30% stake in the German retailer, may push it to
sell a couple of units. Metro's Chief Executive Officer reportedly
opposes those sales, and the report said his contract may not be
renewed this year. A spokesman for the companies could not
immediately be reached for comment.
Gainers far outweighed decliners, but Carlsberg AS was among
stocks on the move south. It dropped 2% after Goldman Sachs cut the
brewer to sell from neutral, citing dilutive mergers &
acquisition risk and exposure to structurally weak European
economies.
Shares of miner Fresnillo PLC fell over 1% after Barclays cut
shares to equal weight from overweight. In an update on the sector,
Barclays said 2014 could be another difficult year and kept its
negative sector view. But it also laid out some preferences in the
mining sector -- "stocks that can deliver earnings growth in a flat
price environment" -- restating an overweight for Randgold
Resources Ltd and upping Hochschild Mining PLC to equal weight from
underweight. Shares of Randgold and Hochschild each rose around
1%.
The main event for global markets Friday is the U.S.
nonfarm-payrolls report for December. The U.S. looks set to post
the biggest annual gain in new jobs since the end of the recession,
with economists polled by MarketWatch forecasting a gain of 193,000
and the unemployment rate to stay steady at 7%.
The German DAX 30 index rose 0.5% to 9,470.22, while the French
CAC 40 index added 0.5% to 4,246.81. The FTSE 100 index also gained
0.5% to 6,725.27.
Drug stocks were the biggest contributors, with Novartis AG
(NVS) gaining 1.6% and Roche Holding Ltd. (RHHBY) adding 1.2%.
Shares of BP PLC (BP) fell 1% after analysts at Exane BNP
Paribas cut shares to neutral from overweight, along with Total SA
(TOT) . Shares of Total rose 0.1%. Royal Dutch Schell PLC (RDSA)
gained1.5% after Exane analysts lifted shares to outperform from
neutral.
More stories from MarketWatch:
What to look for in December jobs report
Liquidity risks are big red flags
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