PARIS (dpa-AFX) - The French market was trading lower on Monday afternoon, amid a global sell-off triggered by upbeat jobs data from the U.S. on Friday which showed that non-farm payroll employment jumped by 295,000 jobs in February against expectations for an increase of about 230,000 jobs. The unemployment rate fell to a six-year low of 5.5 percent, indicating continued progress in the labor market.
The data fuelled speculation that an interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve will be sooner than previously expected.
On a day of light economic news, Germany's exports declined at the fastest pace since August although a weaker euro is likely to boost shipments in months ahead, data from Destatis revealed.
Exports dropped 2.1 percent month-on-month in January, reversing December's revised 2.8 percent increase. It was severe than a 1.5 percent fall forecast by economists.
Germany's manufacturing turnover increased for the second straight month in January at a faster pace, separate data from Destatis showed. Manufacturing turnover climbed a seasonally and working-day-adjusted 1.1 percent month-on-month in January, faster than December's 0.8 percent increase.
Meanwhile, Eurozone investor confidence reached its highest level since August 2007, survey data from the think tank Sentix showed. The investor confidence index for March rose to 18.6 from 12.4 in February. This was the highest score since August 2007.
Eurozone finance ministers will meet in Brussels at 10:00 am ET to discuss initial reform proposals sent by Athens last week. Subsequently, German Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann will deliver a speech entitled 'Challenges in the euro zone: what has been done, what remains to do?' in Zurich at 1:30 pm ET.
The CAC 40 index fell 0.65 percent.
Unibail-Rodamco fell 2.4 percent. JPMorgan cut the stock to 'Neutral' from 'Overweight.'
EDF and Orange were losing 2.3 percent and 2 percent, in that order.
Meanwhile, Renault gained 1 percent but peer Peugeot was down over 1 percent.
Air France-KLM, which reported traffic data for February, climbed nearly 2 percent.
Other major markets in the region were also trading lower.
The Asian stocks fell broadly, with weak commodity prices and fears that an interest rate hike in the U.S. is imminent weighing on the markets.
In the U.S., futures point to a lower open on wall Street. In the previous session, stocks fell sharply on the jobs report. The Dow fell 1.5 percent, the tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped 1.1 percent and the S&P 500 shed 1.4 percent.
Crude for April delivery rose $0.17 to $49.78 per barrel, while gold advanced $10.0 to $1174.3 a troy ounce.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX