Modupe Gbadeyanka
European stocks moved to the downside earlier in the session and remain mostly lower following the release of the U.S. jobs report.
While the French CAC 40 Index has fallen by 0.3 percent, the German DAX Index and the UK’s FTSE 100 Index are both down by 0.4 percent.
The downside remained capped after European Central Bank Vice President Luis de Guindos said that the bank is keeping all monetary policy options on the table for dealing with an economic slowdown and fulfilling its inflation goals.
Meanwhile, trade talks between the U.S. and China will resume next week after U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to a trade war truce at the G20 summit.
The principal negotiators on the U.S. side are U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, while China’s top negotiator is Vice Premier Liu He.
Technology stocks have come under pressure after Samsung Electronics said it expects its operating profit to tumble 56 percent for the second quarter of this year in the face of a weakening chip market.
Swedish industrial technology group Hexagon has also moved sharply lower on the day after issuing a profit warning.
Meanwhile, lighting company Osram gained has moved higher after saying its board would meet to review an offer from private equity firms Bain Capital and Carlyle to acquire the company for 3.4 billion euros or $3.8 billion.
On the data front, Germany factory orders decreased 2.2 percent month-on-month in May, in contrast to a 0.4 percent rise in April, a government report showed. Economists had forecast a marginal fall of 0.1 percent.
U.K. house prices declined for the first time in three months in June, figures from the Lloyds Bank subsidiary Halifax and IHS Markit showed.
House prices decreased 0.3 percent month-on-month in June, reversing a 0.4 percent rise in May. Prices were forecast to fall 0.4 percent.
