EUROPE MARKETS: Defensive Plays Nudge European Stocks Higher As Key Jobs Data Awaits

By Steve Goldstein, MarketWatch

Stocks in Europe moved grudgingly higher on Friday ahead of a key report on the U.S. labor market, with defensive sectors leading the advance.

The Stoxx Europe 600 gained 0.29% to 378.57. Pharmaceuticals including Novo Nordisk(NOVO-B.KO) , food producers such as Danone (BN.FR) , and household product makers like Reckitt Benckiser (RB.LN) gained ground.

After a one-day break, the German DAX gained 0.17% to 11945.37.

   The French CAC 40   rose 0.26% to 5452.85 and the U.K. FTSE 100  added 0.42% to 7107.07. 

After a week of rough readings on purchasing managers indexes -- the Stoxx 600 has dropped over 3% over the last 5 days -- nonfarm payrolls data is due at 8:30 a.m. Eastern.

Economists polled by MarketWatch forecast the U.S. added 147,000 new jobs last month. See jobs preview (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/another-poor-us-jobs-report-would-add-to-wall-street-gloom-heres-what-to-look-for-2019-10-02).

U.S. stocks staged a reversal on Thursday, closing higher after initially dropping when weak service-sector data was released. After the close of trading, Fed Vice Chair Richard Clarida said the risk of a recession is low -- if the central bank gets interest-rate policy right (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/risk-of-recession-isnt-high-as-long-as-fed-gets-policy-right-clarida-says-2019-10-03).

A report that Apple has asked iPhone 11 suppliers to boost production gave a lift to the European tech sector, with sensor maker ams (AMS.EB) and chip producers (STM.FR) and Dialog Semiconductor (DLG.XE) advancing.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 04, 2019 04:34 ET (08:34 GMT)

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