Shares of Alcatel-Lucent slide after firm’s earnings report
By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) — European stock markets struggled for direction on Friday as investors remained cautious ahead of a closely watched U.S. jobs report.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index XX:SXXP +0.15% rose 0.2% to 274.24, but seesawed between small gains and losses.
Shares of Alcatel-Lucent FR:ALU -6.19% slid 5.7% in Paris, after the French telecom-equipment maker said it swung to a loss in the third quarter and revenue dropped 15% in Europe. See: Alcatel Lucent swings to 3rd-quarter loss.
Beiersdorf AG shares DE:BEI +5.80% rallied 5.8% in Frankfurt. The German personal-care-products firm raised its full-year sales-growth forecast after a strong third quarter. See: Beiersdorf Q3 net up, 2012 sales forecast lifted.
For the broader European stock markets, data expected from the U.S. were the main focus point for investors on Friday, with the nonfarm-payrolls report and unemployment rate due at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time. See: U.S. jobless rate is a presidential concern.
With the U.S. presidential election on Tuesday, the employment report will be watched to see how it affects voters who have yet to decide for whom they will vote.
“Election campaigners have focused their attention above all on Ohio, which has 18 electoral votes,” analysts at Commerzbank said in a note.
“Here, the labor market situation, which is featuring prominently in the election campaign, might put President [Barack] Obama at a slight advantage as the rate of unemployment in Ohio fell to 7% in September 2012,” they said.
A raft of data out of the U.S. on Thursday helped boost the pan-European index to its best daily performance in two weeks, as both employment data and manufacturing data surprised to the upside.
Movers
In the U.K., shares of Admiral Group PLC UK:ADM -5.69% slumped 5.5%, after the car insurer said third quarter group turnover was down by 2%. See: Admiral Group Q3 revenue off, on track for year.
Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC shares UK:RBS -1.79% RBS +3.80% lost 1.3% after the bank said it swung to a third-quarter loss of 12.5 pence (20 cents) per share from a profit of 11.3 pence in the year-earlier quarter.
Shares of British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC UK:BSY +0.33% gained 0.5%, after Goldman Sachs added the TV broadcaster to its conviction buy list.
The FTSE 100 index UK:UKX -.00% was marginally higher at 5,864.06.
Germany’s DAX 30 index DX:DAX -0.03% hovered around the flat line at 7,336.86, with shares of Beiersdorf rising the most in the index.
Shares of Deutsche Telekom AG DE:DTE -3.45% dropped 3.2%, after German Daily Handelsblatt reported that dividend payouts from the firm could be cut by a third for 2013. A representative from Deutsche Telekom was not immediately available to comment.
In France, the CAC 40 index FR:PX1 -0.21% traded 0.2% lower at 3,469.64, with Alcatel-Lucent shares adding pressure.
