European Stocks Trim Weekly Gains On Downbeat U.S. Jobs Report

(RTTNews) - European stocks ended a positive week with a lackluster performance on Friday, as a global rally in equities was derailed by a discouraging U.S. jobs report.

The U.S. economy unexpected added only 142,000 jobs in August, the smallest increase since December 2014. Economists had expected an addition of 230,000 jobs in the month.

Although the weak jobs data might ease pressure on the Federal Reserve to hike interest rates, investors may be worried about the start-and-stop nature of the U.S. recovery.

In economic news from the eurozone, a report from Eurostat showed eurozone GDP remained flat in the second quarter, expanding just 0.2 percent. Year on year, GDP grew 0.7 percent in the second quarter, after seeing a 1 percent expansion in the previous three months.

According to a report from Destatis, German industrial production grew the most since early 2012 in July, rising by a seasonally adjusted 1.9 percent in June. Economists had forecast production growth of 0.4 percent following the original 0.3 percent gain in June.

The European Central Bank on Thursday announced stimulus aimed at jump-starting the region's sluggish economy.

The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks eased, but posted a weekly gain of 3.26 percent.

The German DAX added 0.23 percent, the French CAC 40 slipped 0.19 percent. The FTSE 100 index of the U.K. lost 0.33 percent.

Car parts maker ElringKlinger lost 1.7 percent. Goldman Sachs cut the stock to "Sell" from "Neutral."

Henkel added 0.76 percent. Exane BNP raised the stock to "Outperform" from "Neutral."

Air Berlin lost 2.1 percent after Germany's second-largest airline said its traffic and capacity for August increased from last year.

London Stock Exchange lost 2.1 percent as Borse Dubai is preparing to sell a stake .

Laura Ashley Holdings said its first-half profit increased from the prior year, supported by growth in revenues. The stock surged around 8 percent.

Julius Baer jumped 2.6 percent in Zurich, extending recent gains. The stock was raised to "Buy" from "Neutral" at UBS.