Advertisement
UK markets close in 1 hour 53 minutes
  • FTSE 100

    7,962.32
    +30.34 (+0.38%)
     
  • FTSE 250

    19,873.73
    +63.07 (+0.32%)
     
  • AIM

    743.90
    +1.79 (+0.24%)
     
  • GBP/EUR

    1.1694
    +0.0025 (+0.22%)
     
  • GBP/USD

    1.2637
    -0.0001 (-0.01%)
     
  • Bitcoin GBP

    56,480.18
    +1,182.95 (+2.14%)
     
  • CMC Crypto 200

    885.54
    0.00 (0.00%)
     
  • S&P 500

    5,252.85
    +4.36 (+0.08%)
     
  • DOW

    39,733.19
    -26.89 (-0.07%)
     
  • CRUDE OIL

    82.36
    +1.01 (+1.24%)
     
  • GOLD FUTURES

    2,226.70
    +14.00 (+0.63%)
     
  • NIKKEI 225

    40,168.07
    -594.66 (-1.46%)
     
  • HANG SENG

    16,541.42
    +148.58 (+0.91%)
     
  • DAX

    18,490.34
    +13.25 (+0.07%)
     
  • CAC 40

    8,215.41
    +10.60 (+0.13%)
     

European shares rally after robust U.S. jobs data, DAX hits record

* FTSEurofirst 300 up 1.8 percent, MIB surges 3.4 percent

* Germany's DAX ends at record close of 10,087.12 points

* Stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs data boosts sentiment

* Oil services shares drop again with Brent at $69/barrel

By Blaise Robinson

PARIS, Dec 5 (Reuters) - European stocks rallied on Friday, with Germany's DAX hitting a record closing high, boosted by data showing U.S. employers took on the most workers for nearly three years in November.

Non-farm payrolls surged by 321,000 last month, the most since January 2012 and well above a forecast of 230,000 by economists polled by Reuters.

"We knew that the U.S. economy was getting better and better, but these figures are very strong. It really fuels the bullish sentiment on the market," Saxo Bank trader Pierre Martin said.

ADVERTISEMENT

The strong U.S. jobs data came after figures on Friday showed German industry orders rose far more than forecast in October.

Germany's DAX surged 2.4 percent, ending at a record closing high of 10,087.12 points.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares closed up 1.8 percent at 1,405.17 points, with blue-chips such as AB Inbev, Daimler (Xetra: 710000 - news) and Vodafone leading the broad-based rally, up 3 percent to 3.6 percent.

The FTSEurofirst 300 had fallen 1.4 percent on Thursday after the European Central Bank stuck to its line that any decision on further stimulus would be made next year, sparking a profit taking.

"People had bought the rumour and they sold the news. There was no major surprise in Draghi's speech. We're still betting on a slow recovery in the European economy," Barclays France director Franklin Pichard said.

Bucking the trend, shares in oil services firms lost ground again as Brent crude hovered around $69 a barrel. Seadrill lost 5.6 percent and Saipem (Other OTC: SAPMY - news) fell 6.2 percent.

This year's sharp drop in crude prices has forced a number of oil services firms, including Seadrill, to scrap their dividends as oil majors accelerate cost-cutting efforts.

The STOXX oil and gas index has tumbled 23 percent since June, wiping $240 billion off market capitalisation, more than the entire market value of Shell (LSE: RDSB.L - news) , Europe's biggest oil major, Thomson Reuters data shows.

Europe bourses in 2014: http://link.reuters.com/pap87v

Asset performance in 2014: http://link.reuters.com/gap87v

Today's European research round-up (Editing by Louise Ireland)