Equity markets in Europe closed mixed on Friday as traders absorbed takeover news in the British utilities sector and a key US employment survey.
The London FTSE 100 index shed 0.05 percent to end the week above 6,001.20 points, in Paris the CAC 40 fell 0.12 percent to close at 5,282.06 while in Frankfurt the DAX gained 0.17 percent to finish at 6,085.82.
The Spanish and Swiss stock markets both hit record levels.
The DJ Euro STOXX 50 index of leading eurozone shares rose 0.01 percent to 3,940.31 points.
The euro stood at US$1.2604.
US stocks were lower on Friday after the government said last month's job growth was much weaker than anticipated by Wall Street analysts, with just 51,000 new positions created.
Stocks weakened after the Labor Department said US employers added 51,000 jobs last month, the weakest payroll growth in almost a year, in a further sign of cooling economic growth.
The unemployment rate, meanwhile, based on a separate survey, fell to 4.6 percent last month from 4.7 percent in August.
Japanese share prices closed little changed on Friday, holding near five-month highs as investors turned cautious ahead of US jobs data and a feared nuclear test by North Korea, dealers said.
The London market closed above 6,000 points for the first time since May helped by takeover deals in the utilities sector.
Viridian Group, Northern Ireland's main supplier of electricity, said on Friday it had accepted a ?1.62 billion (US$3.03 billion) takeover bid by Bahrain-based investment fund ElectricInvest.
Investment fund Osprey has recently taken over AWG water group for ?2.2 billion, while Australian fund Hastings has acquired South East Water for ?665.4 million.
In Paris, shares in the European Aeronautic Defence and Space company plunged 2.95 percent owing to fresh delays to the Airbus A380 superjumbo. EADS owns 80 percent of Airbus.
Added to the picture, a report said on Friday that deliveries of Airbus's new military transport plane, the A400M, could be up to two years late.
The German military had been expected to take delivery of its first A400Ms in 2010, but they will not be ready until 2012 because of technical problems, Die Welt newspaper said quoting sources from the defense ministry.
In Frankfurt however, auto giant DaimlerChrysler -- which owns 22.5 percent of EADS -- saw its shares gain 0.15 percent to 39.82 euros.
Elsewhere in Europe, in Madrid the IBEX-35 reached a new record of 13,152.1 points, in Amsterdam the AEX closed up 0.01 percent at 486.21 points, in Milan the SP/MIB fell 0.01 percent to 38,955 points.
The Swiss SMI index hit a record high of 0.12 at 8,521.24 points.
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) is set to issue sea and land warnings for Tropical Storm Krathon as projections showed that the tropical storm could strengthen into a typhoon as it approaches Taiwan proper, the CWA said yesterday. The sea warning is scheduled to take effect this morning and the land warning this evening, it said. The storm formed yesterday morning and in the evening reached a point 620 nautical miles (1,148km) southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, moving west-southwest at 4 kph as it strengthened, the CWA said. Its radius measured between 220km and 250km, it added. Krathon is projected
RSS