European stock markets rebounded yesterday after better-than-expected non-farm payrolls data in the United States following a raft of earnings updates.
London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index added 0.96 per cent to 5,976.77 points.
In Paris, the CAC 40 climbed 1.33 per cent to 4,058.01 points while in Frankfurt the DAX rose 1.56 per cent to 7,492.25 points.
Surprisingly upbeat data US jobs data boosted European shares in the afternoon following earnings reports in the morning.
The US private sector forged ahead in creating jobs in April, a sign the recovery is gaining traction despite a rise in the unemployment rate to nine per cent, official data showed yesterday.
Businesses added a solid 268,000 jobs in April, encouraging belief that the economy’s recovery was on track even as federal and local governments cut spending and payrolls.
Overall the economy created a net 244,000 non-farm jobs last month, far more than the 185,000 expected, with the biggest growth in the service sector.
It was the strongest jobs creation since May 2009, a month before the country’s worst recession in decades ended.
And the department sharply revised higher job creation figures for February and March, putting net job gains above the key 200,000 threshold for three consecutive months.
“UK markets recovered their early losses as the after effects of yesterday’s commodity sell-off started to dissipate slightly,” said CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson.
“The catalyst for the recovery was this afternoon’s US payrolls report which surprised to the upside,” he added.
Elsewhere in Europe, Brussels ended up 0.32 per cent, Lisbon added 0.88 per cent, Milan rose 0.98 per cent, Swiss stocks gained 1.19 per cent and Amsterdam climbed 1.21 per cent.
Madrid dropped 0.16 despite the news the economy mustered 0.2 per cent growth in the first quarter.
US stocks also rebounded strongly at the opening of trade on the jobs figure, more than erasing the previous day’s losses.
At 1620 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had added 1.16 per cent to 12,730.28 points.
The broader S&P 500 rose 0.95 per cent to 1,347.74 points, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.37 per cent to 2,853.38 points.
“The US equity markets are nicely higher in early action, as a stronger-than-forecasted April labour report is helping sentiment this morning, as stocks are rebounding from yesterday’s solid declines amid a sharp drop in crude oil and other commodity prices,” said analysts at Charles Schwab.
Increases were broad-based, including energy and mining stocks socked on Thursday by plunges in oil, gold and other precious metals.
In European company news on Friday, Royal Bank of Scotland said that its net loss more than doubled to £528 million (€594 million) in the first quarter as the state-rescued bank was hit by bailout costs.
However the bank’s improved underlying performance helped send its share price soaring 5.58 per cent to 42.74 pence in London.
Elsewhere, recently formed International Airlines Group gained 3.29 per cent to 254.10 pence after the group combining British Airways and Spanish carrier Iberia announced a first-quarter net profit of €33 million. (AFP)
The profit after tax figure for the three months to March 31 compared with an estimated net loss of €243 million in the first quarter of 2010, IAG said in a results statement.
IAG, which was formed only in January, posted a profit after increasing capacity and slashing most costs. However it faced a 31-percent rise in fuel charges during the reporting period.
Asian shares fell Friday on concerns over the global economy.
Tokyo’s Nikkei, which has been closed for the past three days for public holidays, tumbled 1.45 percent.
Hong Kong was off 0.44 per cent, Shanghai lost 0.30 per cent and Sydney dropped 0.23 per cent.