European markets
The pan-European Stoxx 600
index was down 1.1% by 1:50 p.m. London time, with all sectors bar oil and gas trading in the red. Retail stocks sunk 2% while household goods shed 1.6%.
Shares of Delivery Hero
fell 3.4% in morning trade on Reuters reports that activist investor Sachem Head built a 3.6% stake in the German delivery business and may be seeking to oust CEO Niklas Oestberg.
Elsewhere, investors digested fresh data on euro zone construction and retail sales, as well as U.K. house prices.
Markets in Asia-Pacific moved lower Friday, led by declines for Japan’s Nikkei 225, after comments from U.S. Federal Reserve officials fueled worries that the central bank could hold off on rate cuts.
U.S. stocks opened slightly higher after the Dow Jones Industrial Average notched its worst trading day in more than a year Thursday.
US adds 303,000 jobs in March, topping estimates
The March nonfarm payrolls came in stronger than expected on Friday morning, another sign of a resilient U.S. labor market.
The U.S. economy added 303,000 jobs last month, topping the 200,000 expected by economists surveyed by Dow Jones. The unemployment rate was 3.8%.
Average hourly earnings rose 0.3% in March, and are up 4.1% over the past year. The average workweek ticked up to 34.4 hours.
— Jesse Pound
U.S. stocks open Friday in the green
The major U.S. stock indexes opened higher on Friday.
The S&P 500 gained 0.4%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 55 points, or 0.1%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.4%.
— Pia Singh
Ocado shares sink 8.3%
Shares of Ocado sunk more than 8% in afternoon deals, after the British online grocery retailer announced that its chairman Rick Haythornthwaite would step down next year due to his increased commitments as group chair of NatWest bank.
The stock was down 8.3% by 1:55 p.m. London time.
— Karen Gilchrist
Euro zone retail sales fell 0.5% in February
Euro zone retail sales slipped 0.5% in February, new preliminary data showed Friday.
The dip, which was in line in economists’ expectations, marks the third straight month sales have failed to increase, pouring cold water on hopes of a consumer-led recovery.
Meanwhile, euro zone construction fell in March on the back of subdued demand.
— Karen Gilchrist
fell 3.4% in morning trade on Reuters reports that activist investor Sachem Head built a 3.6% stake in the German delivery business and may be seeking to oust CEO Niklas Oestberg.
On the other end, Finnish oil refining company Neste was up 2.6% as its Porvoo refinery undergoes a maintenance update.
— Karen Gilchrist
UK house prices fall for first time in six months
U.K. house prices fell 1% in March, following five months of consecutive gains, new data from mortgage lender Halifax showed Friday.
Compared with a year earlier, prices rose 0.3%, down on the 1.6% annual increase recorded in February.
Kim Kinnaird, director at Halifax Mortgages, said the decline was unsurprising given that the path for interest rate cuts remains uncertain.
“Financial markets have also become less optimistic about the degree and timing of Base Rate cuts, as core inflation proves stickier than generally expected. This has stalled the decline in mortgage rates that had helped to drive market activity around the turn of the year,” she said.
— Karen Gilchrist
CNBC Pro: Loads of analysts just hiked price targets for these 6 stocks — giving one 82% upside
Analysts have become more bullish on six stocks from around the world this week, raising their price targets.
The price target changes come ahead of the next earnings season covering the first quarter of this year.
CNBC Pro screened for global stocks that have received price target upgrades from five or more analysts in the past seven days and have a potential upside of over 25%.
CNBC Pro subscribers can read more about the six stocks here.
— Ganesh Rao
CNBC Pro: From Nvidia to Boeing: Portfolio manager reveals the stocks she’s loving on right now
Portfolio manager Barbara Doran has revealed a number of her favorite stocks, reiterating a bullish outlook on the stock market more broadly.
“People are reluctant to embrace this bull market after a couple of years of deep skepticism. But this is what bull markets do. They make new highs,” she told CNBC.
Her top picks include top-performer Nvidia
, embattled aerospace giant Boeing
European markets: Here are the opening calls
European markets are set for a mixed open on Friday.
The U.K.’s FTSE 100
index is expected to open 38 points higher at 7,975, Germany’s DAX up 35 points at 18,403, France’s CAC 2 points lower at 8,151 and Italy’s FTSE MIB
down 26 points at 34,454, according to data from IG.
Investors will be keeping an eye out for fresh data on euro zone retail sales and construction, as well as U.K. home sales.
