BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - The major European markets ended weak on Friday with investors assessing the economic situation in the U.S. in the wake of a report showing a weaker than expected labor market.
Investors also digested a slew of regional economic data, and some corporate news. The mood in the markets was largely cautious.
The pan European Stoxx 600 ended down 0.16%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 edged down 0.09%, Germany's DAX closed 0.73% down, and France's CAC 40 drifted down 0.31%, while Switzerland's SMI edged down 0.1%.
Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Russia and Sweden ended higher.
Denmark, Greece, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Turkiye closed weak.
In the UK market, Admiral Group, BP, Barclays, Natwest Group and Shell lost 2 to 3%. Lloyds Banking Group, Pearson and St. James's Place also ended notably lower.
Entain rallied about 3.4%. Berkeley Group Holdings surged 3% after reporting 'stable' trading over the first four months of its financial year and maintaining its earnings guidance.
Tullow Oil, which soared more than 12% after naming oil and gas industry veteran Ian Perks as its new CEO, pared some gains subsequently, but still settled 4.5% up.
Ashtead Group, Persimmon, Melrose Industries, Sainsbury (J), Segro, Taylor Wimpey, Babcock International and Barratt Redrow gained 2 to 3%.
In the German market, SAP, MTU Aero Engines, Covestro, Siemens, Siemens Energy, Puma, Beiersdorf, Bayer, Munich RE and Deutsche Bank lost 1.2 to 2.1%.
Sartorius and Vonovia gained about 2.6% and 2.5%, respectively. E.ON gained 1.7% after it signed an agreement to sell its Czech subsidiary Gas Distribution s.r.o. to GasNet.
Adidas, Symrise, RWE, Zalando, Merck, Infineon Technologies, Volkswagen and Rheinmetall gained 0.7 to 1.5%.
In the French market, Societe Generale, TotalEnergies, Airbus Group, BNP Paribas and Credit Agricole lost 1.2 to 2%.
STMicroElectronics gained about 3.7% and Capgemini climbed nearly 2.5%. Kering, ArcelorMittal, Eurofins Scientific and Unibail Rodamco gained 1.5 to 2%.
In economic news, data from the Office for National Statistics showed UK retail sales logged a faster growth in July on good weather and the women's Euro football tournament.
Retail sales posted a monthly expansion of 0.6% in July, following an increase of 0.3% in June. Sales growth was expected to remain at 0.3%.
Non-store retailers and clothing stores sales increased strongly in July, which retailers attributed to new products, good weather, and an increase resulting from the UEFA Women's EURO 2025 tournament.
However, in the three months to July, sales volumes fell 0.6% compared with the same period last year.
Year-on-year, retail sales grew 1.1% in July following a 0.9% rise in June. Excluding auto fuel, retail sales growth held steady at 1.3%.
U.K. house prices rose for the third consecutive month on the back of falling mortgage rates and continued wage growth, according to the Halifax house price index data. The value of a typical home rose 0.3% in August when compared to July.
Germany's factory orders declined for the third straight month in July, figures from Destatis revealed.
New orders fell 2.9% month-on-month in July, confounding expectations for an increase of 0.5%. The fall was also sharper than the 0.2% decrease posted in June. Further, this was the fastest decline since January, when prices dropped 5.4%.
On a yearly basis, the decline in factory orders was 3.4% versus a 1.7% rise in the previous month.
France's trade deficit decreased in July from a month ago as exports rose amid a fall in imports, data released by the customs office showed.
The trade deficit dropped to EUR 5.6 billion in July from EUR 7.2 billion in June. The expected shortfall was EUR 6.1 billion.
In the corresponding month last year, the trade deficit was EUR 6.2 billion.
Exports posted a monthly increase of 2.6%, while imports were 0.5% lower. On an annual basis, both exports and imports increased by 0.5% and 0.8%, respectively.
Data from the Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment in the U.S. crept up by just 22,000 jobs in August after climbing by an upwardly revised 79,000 jobs in July.
Economists had expected employment to increase by 75,000 jobs compared to the addition of 73,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.
The report also showed the uptick of 14,000 jobs that had been reported for June was downwardly revised to a decrease of 13,000 jobs.
Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the unemployment rate inched up by 4.3% in August from 4.2% in July, in line with economist estimates.
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