Wall Street, weak mining stocks drag down EU markets

European stock markets closed lower on Friday, dragged down by a weak start to trading on Wall Street and sharp falls in mining stocks in London.

London's FTSE 100 index closed down 0.32 percent at 6,026.1 points.

In Paris the CAC 40 fell 0.91 percent to finish at 5,174.96 and in Frankfurt the DAX shed 1.3 percent to 5,952.92.

The DJ Euro STOXX 50 index of leading eurozone shares shed 0.99 percent to 3,823.11 points.

Wall Street stocks skidded lower at the open on Friday after a report showing stronger-than-expected US job growth highlighted fears about inflation and higher interest rates.

The US Labor Department reported that the US economy created 211,000 jobs in March, more than the 190,000 expected by economists. The unemployment rate also ticked lower to 4.7 percent.

Japanese share prices meanwhile closed at new multi-year highs Friday, riding a wave of optimism about prospects for the economy and company profits, dealers said. Tokyo's NIKKEI-225 index finished at the highest closing level since July 10, 2000.

In London trading on Friday, mining stocks fell because of profit-taking by investors who sold shares after a recent rally, traders said.

Kazakhmys fell 5.44 percent, Xstrata lost 4.68 percent and Rio Tinto shed 2.76 percent.

European investors also zeroed in on news on Friday that BAE was seeking to sell off its holding in aircraft maker Airbus to majority owner EADS.

EADS, which owns the remaining 80.0 percent of Airbus, recently valued the BAE stake at 3.5 billion euros (US$4.3 billion).

In Friday's London trading, the price of shares in BAE rose 1.04 percent.

Broker Merrill Lynch said it believed the value of the stake is between 2.8 and ?3.3 billion (US$5.77 billion), but said that it expected the company to use the cash to fund acquisitions in the US.

In Paris, EADS saw its shares fall 0.31 percent.

Elsewhere in London, shares in British airports operator BAA closed 1.50 percent higher after the company rejected a formal takeover bid by Spanish construction giant Grupo Ferrovial pitched at ?8.75 billion.

In Madrid, Ferrovial shares closed down 2.40 percent.

Elsewhere in Europe, in Amsterdam the AEX index fell 0.20 percent to 468.68, the Swiss SMI was up by 0.04 percent at 8,105.2, in Milan the SP/MIB fell 1.08 percent to 37,989 points, in Madrid the IBEX-35 fell 0.77 percent to 11,816.7 and in Brussels the BEL-20 closed down 0.39 percent at 3,917.84.