EUROPE MARKETS: European Stocks Climb Ahead Of U.S. Payrolls Data

By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European stock markets headed for weekly gains on Friday, with investors hoping the highly anticipated U.S. jobs data will give them more to cheer about, after a dovish European Central Bank sent markets higher yesterday.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index climbed 0.3% to 338.17, on track for its highest close since early October and for a 0.4% weekly advance.

France's CAC 40 index rose 0.1% to 4,233.31 while Germany's DAX 30 index picked up 0.2% to 9,399.76. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index added 0.8% to 6,605.29, boosted by oil firms and miners.

The euro (EURUSD) recovered slightly after a slide on Thursday on the back of comments from ECB President Mario Draghi that the central bank is ready to adopt new easing measures if needed. The shared currency traded at $1.2400, up from $1.2376 late Thursday.

Data: Investors were keenly awaiting the nonfarm-payrolls report from the U.S. due at 1:30 p.m. London time, or 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time. Economists expect another solid number, which would confirm the upbeat picture of the labor market conveyed in the Federal Reserve's statement last week.

In European data, industrial-production numbers from Germany missed forecasts for September. Output from factories rose 1.4% month-on-month less than the 2% expected by economists polled by The Wall Street Journal.

Meanwhile, export data were much stronger than expected, jumping 5.5% in September and nearly making up for the 5.8% in August.

French industrial production was flat in September on the month, which a bit better than the 0.2% decline expected.

Major movers: Vestas Wind Systems AS jumped 11% after the wind turbine manufacturer raised its full-year earnings forecast and swung to a profit in the third quarter.

Allianz SE climbed 4.9% after the German insurer increased its dividend-payout ratio.

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