ROME: European stocks were mostly lower on Monday, as investors continued to focus on the Federal Reserve’s next policy move after Friday’s strong U.S. jobs data increased the possibility of a rate hike before the end of the year.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 fell 0.21%, France’s CAC 40 declined 0.41%, while Germany’s DAX 30 slipped 0.21%.
The Labor Department reported on Friday that the U.S. economy added 271,000 jobs last month, well ahead of expectations of the 180,000 expected by economists and the largest increase since December.
The unemployment rate fell to a seven-and-a-half year low of 5.0%.
Earlier in the week, Fed Chair Janet Yellen said that the U.S. economy was performing well, and that December would represent a “live possibility” for raising interest rates if upcoming economic data supported it.
Financial stocks were mixed, as French lenders BNP Paribas (PA:BNPP) and Societe Generale (PA:SOGN) rose 0.36% and 0.48%, while Commerzbank (DE:CBKG) advanced 0.66% and Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn) slipped 0.14% in Germany
Among peripheral lenders, Intesa Sanpaolo (MI:ISP) dipped 0.06% and Unicredit (MI:CRDI) climbed 0.50% in Italy, while BBVA (MC:BBVA) added 0.19% and Banco Santander (MC:SAN) fell 0.28% in Spain.
Elsewhere, Kabel Deutschland Holding AG O.N. (DE:KD8Gn) saw shares rise 0.30% after reporting a 7.3% year-on-year increase in second-quarter revenue.
On the downside, Continental AG O.N. (DE:CONG) plummeted 4.58% even as the German auto part and tire maker raised its full-year profit outlook following an increase in third-quarter sales.
Volkswagen (DE:VOWG) added to losses, with shares sliding 0.38% after engineers admitted that they had manipulated carbon dioxide emissions data because goals set by former Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn were difficult to achieve.
