Traders work on the floor of the London Metal Exchange, in London, Britain September 27, 2018.
This is CNBC's live blog covering European markets.
European stock markets closed higher on Friday, rounding off a broadly negative week dominated by corporate earnings.
The Stoxx 600 index was up 0.44% by the close, holding gains following a weaker rise in U.S. payrolls than markets were expecting.
"While today's miss will be good for markets given their hope for swifter interest rate cuts, it is very unlikely to move the needle at this stage when it comes to the Fed's thinking about its first interest rate cut in this cycle," Richard Carter, head of fixed interest research at Quilter Cheviot, said in a note.
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"It ultimately appears as if the market got ahead of itself earlier this year in thinking the pace of interest rate cuts would be fairly swift initially."
The regional Stoxx index has finished lower for the past three sessions as investors digested a slew of results from the biggest companies in Europe and the U.S. For the week it was down 0.94%.
On Friday, those earnings included French banks Société Générale, which reported a smaller-than-forecast decline in first-quarter profit, and Crédit Agricole, which saw a leap in net profit. Both stocks were among the top performers.
Money Report
On the data front, U.K. retail footfall recorded a weak April amid wet weather, while Turkey's inflation rate climbed to nearly 70%.
The week has also been dominated by the U.S. Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting. Interest rates were held steady, but markets were more interested in messaging from Fed Chair Jerome Powell that it was "unlikely" the central bank's next move will be a rate hike.
U.S. stocks have rallied on the news, and stocks were higher Friday.
Asia-Pacific markets have had a busy week amid a suspected intervention in the Japanese yen and a rally in Hong Kong and technology stocks.
Europe closes lower
The Stoxx 600 index was up 0.44% by the close, holding gains following a weaker rise in U.S. payrolls than markets were expecting.
For the week, the index was down by 0.94%.
Fed delay of rate cuts will cause ‘no landing then crash’: State Street
Marija Veitmane, head of equity research at State Street Global Markets, discusses the outlook for the U.S. economy in a "higher for longer" rate environment.
U.S. stocks open higher after weak jobs report
U.S. stocks opened higher Friday following a softer-than-expected jobs report for April.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 578 points, or 1.5%. The S&P 500 surged 1.2%, while the Nasdaq Composite rallied 1.8%.
— Samantha Subin
U.S. economy added fewer jobs than expected in April
The nonfarm payrolls report for April showed 175,000 jobs added, below the 240,000 jobs expected by economists surveyed by Dow Jones.
The unemployment rate ticked up to 3.9%, compared to 3.8% in the prior month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Revisions to February and March jobs numbers decreased the cumulative jobs added in those periods by 22,000.
— Jesse Pound
Yet to see signs of Europe recovery in second half of the year, Daimler Truck CEO says
Martin Daum, CEO of Daimler Truck, weighs in on the firm's earnings, breaking down which markets are expected to pick up and which are expected to continue to drag for the rest of the year.
Novo Nordisk shares extend losses following first-quarter results
Shares of Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk slid 4.3% through Friday morning, extending a 2.7% loss on Thursday as analysts pored over the details in its first-quarter results.
It puts the stock on track for its sharpest daily decline since August 2022, according to LSEG data.
The company reported booming sales for its injectable weight loss treatment Wegovy, which it said had offset a slight reduction in prices. It expects prices to drop further as new entrants enter the market, CFO Karsten Knudsen said on a media call, adding that the company was not seeing much evidence of Wegovy users moving to other treatments.
However, analysts had expected even higher sales and noted that Novo Nordisk's raising of its 2024 outlook was due to one-off accounting adjustments.
Analysts at Stifel trimmed their target price on the stock to 950 Danish kroner from 960 kroner on Friday, while weight loss drug makers were broadly lower after U.S. firm Amgen said it was "very pleased" with initial trial results for its injectable obesity treatment MariTide.
— Jenni Reid
Euro slightly higher but economist warns of weakness ahead
The euro nudged higher against the U.S. dollar on Friday, trading up 0.16% at 9:50 a.m. in London as traders await data on private payrolls.
Daniel Lacalle, chief economist at Tressis Gestion, told CNBC's "Street Signs Europe" on Thursday that the euro zone's shared currency may struggle against the greenback this year as monetary policy diverges with the United States.
The European Central Bank has given a firm indication it plans to begin interest rate cuts in June, while the U.S. Federal Reserve has pushed back expectations due to persistent inflation.
"The problem of cutting rates right now is that the ECB takes for granted the strength of the euro. And if they start to cut rates ahead of the Federal Reserve, that is basically giving the world a signal that the euro needs to weaken," Lacalle said.
"And if the euro weakens, the import bill of the euro zone is going to rise, making it even more difficult for the euro area to grow."
Read more here.
— Jenni Reid, Sam Meredith
Europe stocks open higher
European stocks opened cautiously higher on Friday, with the Stoxx 600 index up 0.23% at 8:10 a.m. in London.
Germany's DAX and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 were both up by 0.3%, while France's CAC 40 nudged 0.2% higher.
— Jenni Reid
UK retail had a damp April
U.K. shop footfall declined in April, according to figures from the British Retail Consortium, which partially blamed the unseasonably wet weather.
The number of shoppers on the high street dropped 6.9% year on year and 1.5% on the previous month. The BRC said that was also due to the Easter public holidays falling in April last year and March this year.
Footfall was lower by 6.2% in retail parks, and down by 7.2% in shopping centers. All U.K. nations and most cities had a weak performance.
"However, there was good news in Edinburgh, where footfall was positive once again owing to the investment in local shopping locations in the Scottish capital over the past few years," said Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium.
Despite the gloomy start to spring, economists broadly expect a pick-up in the U.K. retail environment this year as real incomes rise.
— Jenni Reid
Japanese yen recovers 4.5% against U.S. dollar, set for best week in over a year
The Japanese yen was trading at 152.93 against the U.S. dollar, and was set to end its best week in over a year, despite hitting its weakest level since 1990 on Monday at 160.03.
Analysts, including from BofA, have suggested there were likely two interventions carried out by Japanese authorities during the week, on Monday and Wednesday. The authorities are yet to make an official statement to confirm the interventions.
"The government has been refusing to disclose whether they've been intervening or not, but I don't think many people have any doubts," Nicholas Smith, Japan strategist at CLSA, told CNBC.
The yen has recovered some 4.5% since it hit a 34-year low on Monday.
— Shreyashi Sanyal
Europe stocks head for higher open
European stock markets are seen opening higher Friday, according to IG data.
The U.K.'s FTSE 100 was last seen up 18 points at 8,194 points, Germany's DAX up 72 points at 17,980 and France's CAC 40 up 24 points at 7,940.
Italy's MIB was seen 153 points higher at 33,634.
— Jenni Reid
CNBC Pro: Goldman says these global stocks will soar on an $857.5 billion electrification boom - gives one 45% upside
Demand for power and data centers has been taking the world by storm, and its not just the U.S. tech giants that are set to benefit, according to Goldman Sachs.
Europe is set see a pick up in demand and electricity consumption by as much as 50% in the next 10 years - reversing the slump it has been facing since 2008, the investment bank's analysts noted.
The massive growth translates to an investment of nearly 800 euros ($857.5 billion) in Europe's power transmission and distribution network, they added, naming stocks with over 30% upside potential on their radar.
CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.
— Amala Balakrishner
CNBC Pro: Goldman names global stocks with the highest sustainable dividends, giving one 10% yield
European companies are more cash-rich than they've been in recent history.
Companies in the Stoxx 600 index have nearly 1.5 trillion euros ($1.6 trillion) in cash on their balance sheets — that's 25% higher than pre-pandemic levels, according to Goldman Sachs.
And the dividend yield differential between Europe and the U.S. is the narrowest it's ever been, making Europe more appealing, according to Goldman Sachs. "In other words, Europe has rarely looked cheaper on an absolute and relative basis," it said.
CNBC Pro takes a look at some stocks that turned up on Goldman's screen of high dividend yield names. They are companies in the Stoxx Europe 600 with the highest 12-month forward dividend yields in each sector.
Subscribers can read more here.
— Weizhen Tan
