European Shares Little Changed Ahead Of US Jobs Report

(RTTNews) - European shares were little changed on Friday after climbing to a record high the previous day on the back of robust quarterly earnings and eased concerns about a U.S.-led trade war.

Traders looked ahead to the release of the monthly U.S. jobs report later in the day, which might offer additional clues regarding the Federal Reserve's next interest rate decision this year.

The jobs report may show that U.S. employment climbed by 170,000 jobs in January after an increase of 256,000 jobs in December. The jobless rate is seen holding steady at 4.1 percent.

Meanwhile, German industrial production fell the most in five months at the end of 2024, driven by a fall in output from the car industry, official data showed.

Output decreased by 2.4 percent in December compared with the previous month. Analysts had predicted a 0.6 percent fall.

Elsewhere, U.K. house prices grew more than expected in January to hit a record high as buyer demand increased ahead of the stamp duty hike in April, mortgage lender Halifax said.

House prices increased 0.7 percent in January from December, reversing a 0.2 percent drop in the previous month. The monthly growth was also faster than economists' forecast of 0.4 percent.

On a yearly basis, growth in house prices moderated to 3.0 percent from 3.4 percent in December.

The pan European STOXX 600 was marginally higher at 544.85 after rallying 1.2 percent in the previous session.

The German DAX was little changed with a positive bias and France's CAC 40 edged up by 0.2 percent while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 slid 0.2 percent.

Iveco Group NV shares jumped 14 percent after the company said it was considering spinning off of its defense unit.

Denmark's biggest lender Danske Bank surged 7 percent after reporting solid financial results for the fourth quarter of 2024.

French healthcare firm Sanofi SA fell more than 1 percent after announcing a share buyback plan worth up to 2 billion euros ($2.1 billion).

Cosmetics group L'Oreal fell 2 percent after Q4 sales missed expectations.

Legal & General soared 7 percent. The British life insurer has agreed to sell its U.S. protection business to Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Company for $2.3 billion.

Emerging markets specialist Ashmore tumbled 4 percent as it reported a 33 percent decline in half-yearly profit.

German consumer goods maker Henkel rose about 1 percent. The company said it would sell its retailer brands business in North America to an affiliate of First Quality Enterprises.