European shares rose on Friday, recovering from their worst day in six weeks with support from robust jobs data from the US, and strong results from Adidas AG and HSBC Holdings PLC.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index closed up 0.4 percent, rising up to 0.6 percent after strong US jobs data, before trading back at mid-day levels.
On the week, the index fell 0.2 percent after two weeks of gains.
Data on Friday showed that US job growth surged last month and the unemployment rate dropped to a more than 49-year low of 3.6 percent, pointing to sustained strength in economic activity.
“The April [jobs] report allows the US Federal Reserve to remain comfortably on hold for the next few meetings as it awaits more data, particularly on global risks and the inflation outlook,” analysts at TD Securities said in a note.
Investors tend to dump stocks in a rising interest-rate environment due to higher cost of capital and better appeal for bonds.
Shares around the globe had fallen on Thursday after the Fed signaled little appetite to adjust interest rates anytime soon, dampening hopes of a rate cut among market participants.
Gains of nearly 2 percent by London-listed shares of HSBC after the lender beat quarterly profit estimates was the biggest boost to the pan-region index.
French lender Societe Generale SA also rose as its capital buffer was stronger than expected, helping investors shrug off a decline in quarterly net profit.
The personal and household goods sector rose 1.2 percent.
Adidas jumped almost 10 percent to hit a record high after the sportswear maker’s quarterly net profit rose.
“Not many European stocks are racking up all-time highs, and that underlines the bullish sentiment,” CMC Markets PLC analyst David Madden said in London.
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV jumped 4.6 percent after the automaker said that new US pickup truck models would help it achieve its profit targets this year and offset a weak first quarter.
Meanwhile, Air France-KLM Group tumbled 5.5 percent as the Franco-Dutch group blamed higher fuel costs and tough price competition for its first-quarter loss.
Reinsurer Swiss Re AG slid 3 percent to be one of the biggest drags on STOXX 600 on an unexpected fall in quarterly net profit.
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