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Europe ends the day down after US jobs disappoints

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European stocks closed mostly in the red on Friday as the latest U.S. jobs figure came in below expectations and a renewed downturn in commodity stocks and prices weighed on sentiment.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was off some 0.3 percent during mid-afternoon trade, with almost all sectors in negative territory.

London's FTSE 100 ended the day 0.2 percent higher with France's CAC off by some 0.5 percent and while Germany's DAX up 0.2 percent.

US jobs disappoints with 160K

European markets


The U.S. economy added 160,000 jobs in April, according to nonfarm payroll data from the Labor Department, while the unemployment rate stayed put at 5 percent. On a positive note, hourly earnings increased on average by 8 cents in April.

The jobs figure came in below a Reuters poll, where economists predicted 202,000 new jobs. To compare, in the past year, the average employment growth came in around 232,000 per month. April's jobs figure was the weakest gain seen since September.

U.S. stock futures briefly fell after the report but regained some ground, while markets fluctuated in Europe, and the sterling spiked to reach $1.4546, before paring. U.S. markets were trading lower on Friday, following the data.

Investors will be looking to see what the latest figures mean for an interest rate hike from the U.S. Federal Reserve, with traders recently showing mixed views as to how many times the central bank will raise rates in 2016.

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Another key market mover was oil on Friday, which saw prices dip slightly, fluctuating and paring some losses after the jobs report. Prices have been higher in recent days, following supply disruptions in Canada, where a huge wildfire continued to rage near its huge oil sand fields.

Both Brent and U.S. WTI were up after trading under pressure during trade, and are currently trading around $45.79 and $45.10 respectively.

In Asia overnight, shares lost ground as investors awaited the non-farm payroll numbers, however Australian shares retraced some of their declines after the central bank lowered its inflation forecast.

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Shares of ArcelorMittal sank some 1.2 percent despite the steelmaker saying on Friday that it was slightly more positive about the steel market, with a modest improvement in the outlook for China. Core profit (EBITDA) came in at $927 million for the first quarter, a lower figure compared to previous quarter results.

Easyjet shares ended the day off over 1.6 percent after the budget airline reported a 6.1 percent rise in passenger numbers in April. Easyjet's load factor, a measure of tickets sold, fell however, to 90.4 percent in April, down from 90.8 percent.

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InterContinental shares were lower despite the hotel group reporting a rise in first-quarter global room revenue. The group also said it was confident for the rest of the year, Reuters reported.

Meanwhile, shares of Monte dei Paschi di Siena ended the day 2.4 percent higher after the Italian bank reported on Thursday first-quarter net income that beat analyst expectations.

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Randgold Resources had a good day up some 6.5 percent, buoyed by a tick up in gold prices, which pushed fellow precious metals firm Fresnillo higher too. Basic Resources overall, however, was one of the worst performing sectors, with Anglo American off more than 3 percent at one point in the day before paring losses to close some 0.9 percent higher.

British satellite telecommunications company Inmarsat ended the day 5.8 percent off, after the company warned on Thursday that sales could be lower this year. Meanwhile, Man Group fell to the bottom of the STOXX 600, off over 8.5 percent after Citi downgraded the stock to "sell".

—CNBC's Jeff Cox contributed to this market report.

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