European shares remain steady on Friday morning as investors digested the announcement of U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminium and awaited the U.S. jobs report due out later.
Upbeat jobs data hit February and fanned speculation of faster rate rises in the United States, resulting in a rout in the bond market and hammering world equities.
“If wage growth picks up further and structurally, the Fed will have more confidence in hiking rates several times in 2018”, Rabobank analysts wrote.
The pan-European STOXX 600 was down 0.1 percent by 0923 GMT, with most sectors in the red except for defensive industries such as healthcare or utilities which made limited gains. There was also caution over the apparent new entente between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump.
A number of corporate updates disappointed.
Shares in Lagardere, the French media group behind the likes of Paris Match and Europe 1 radio, saw the biggest decline on the Stoxx, down 5.9 percent after disappointing annual results.
British satellite company Inmarsat slipped 4.1 percent after it said it would lower its dividend in 2018 and beyond to fund an investment drive in its aviation division after core earnings fell in the fourth quarter.
“Management capitulated, doing the last thing you want to when trying to keep investors from jumping ship – slash the dividend”, Mike van Dulken, head of research at Accendo Markets commented.
It was upbeat jobs data last month that fanned speculation of faster rate rises in the United States, causing a rout in the bond market and hammering world equities.
“If wage growth picks up further and structurally, the Fed will have more confidence in hiking rates several times in 2018”, Rabobank analysts wrote.
The pan-European STOXX 600 was down 0.1 percent by 0923 GMT, with most sectors in the red except for defensive industries such as healthcare or utilities which made limited gains. There was also caution over the apparent new entente between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump.
A number of corporate updates disappointed.
Shares in Lagardere, the French media group behind the likes of Paris Match and Europe 1 radio, saw the biggest decline on the Stoxx, down 5.9 percent after disappointing annual results.
British satellite company Inmarsat slipped 4.1 percent after it said it would lower its dividend in 2018 and beyond to fund an investment drive in its aviation division after core earnings fell in the fourth quarter.
“Management capitulated, doing the last thing you want to when trying to keep investors from jumping ship – slash the dividend”, Mike van Dulken, head of research at Accendo Markets commented. Reuters report.
