BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks failed to hold early
gains and closed broadly lower on Friday, as the mood turned cautious ahead of
the second round of the French legislative elections on Sunday.

Investors digested the crucial jobs data from the U.S., and assessed the likely
move of the Federal Reserve in upcoming monetary policy meetings.

Stocks edged higher early on in the session after the Labour Party secured a
landslide victory in the U.K. election to end 14 years of Conservative rule, as
widely expected.

Regarding Sunday's parliamentary elections in France, opinion polls show the
second-round run-off vote may lead to a hung parliament with no clear majority.

The pan European Stoxx 600 ended down 0.18%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 drifted down
0.45%, France's CAC 40 ended lower by 0.26%, and Germany's DAX edged up 0.14%.
Switzerland's SMI dropped 0.52%.

Among other markets in Europe, Finland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland,
Spain, Sweden and Turkiye closed weak. Austria and Portugal edged down
marginally.

Denmark, Greece, Iceland and Russia ended higher, while Belgium settled flat.

In the UK market, HSBC Holdings, Whitbread, IHG, Standard Chartered, Smiths
Group, Ashtead Group and Aviva ended lower by 2 to 2.6%.

Rio Tinto ended nearly 2% down. Barclays Group, Rolls-Royce Holdings, BP, Smith
(DS), Prudential, Mondi, Shell, BAE Systems and 3i Group also ended notably
lower.

Smurfit Kappa Group, United Utilities, Vistry Group, Severn Trent, Fresnillo,
Taylor Wimpey, Marks & Spencer, Barratt Developments, Persimmon, Berkeley Group
Holdings, B&M European Value Retail and Sainsbury (J) gained 2 to 3.5%.

In the German market, Rheinmetall fell nearly 5%. Deutsche Boerse, Deutsche
Bank, Munich RE, BASF, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Hannover Rueck and BMW lost
0.6 to 1.6%.

Continental rallied nearly 4%. Sartorius, Infineon, Vonovia, Porsche, RWE,
Zalando, Fresenius, Puma and SAP gained 1 to 3%.

In the French market, Accor ended down 2.3%. Schneider Electric, Air Liquide,
Stellantis and Safran lost 1 to 1.2%.

Eurofins Scientific climbed about 4.5%. STMicroElectronics, Vinci, Dassault
Systemes, Engie, Carrefour, Orange, Vivendi, Veolia and Societe Generale posted
sharp to moderate gains.

In European economic news, eurozone retail sales edged up 0.1% on a monthly
basis in May following a 0.2% drop in April, Eurostat said. Sales were expected to climb 0.2%. Sales of food, drinks and tobacco posted a monthly increase of
0.7%.

Germany's industrial production declined unexpectedly in May suggesting that the
economy is losing steam, official data revealed. Industrial production posted a
monthly decline of 2.5% in May, reversing a revised 0.1% rise in April, Destatis
reported. Output was expected to grow 0.2%.

France's industrial production declined at the steepest pace in just over
one-and-half years in May amid weak manufacturing output. Industrial output fell
2.1% on a monthly basis, reversing a 0.6% rebound in the previous month.

France's trade deficit rose to EUR 7.98 billion in May from EUR 7.56 billion in
April.Exports posted a monthly decline of 1.7%, and imports were 0.7% lower.

UK house prices dropped in June after remaining stable for two straight months,
signaling that the property market remained subdued, mortgage lender Halifax
reported Friday. House prices fell 0.2% month-on-month in June, in contrast to
the expected increase of 0.2%. A typical UK house costs GBP 288,455. Compared to
the last year, house prices climbed 1.6%.

In U.S., the Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment shot up by
206,000 jobs in June compared to economist estimates for an increase of about
190,000 jobs. The report also showed the increases in employment in April and
May were downwardly revised to 108,000 jobs and 218,000 jobs, respectively,
reflecting a net downward revision of 111,000 jobs.

The unemployment rate also rose for the third straight month, inching up to 4.1%
in June from 4% in May. Economists had expected the unemployment rate to remain
unchanged. With the unexpected uptick, the unemployment rate reached its highest
level since hitting a matching rate in November 2021.



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