European markets open to close: Stoxx earnings, Fed, Bank of England

European and US stocks and bonds rose on Friday after US employment data came in weaker than expected, raising expectations that the Federal Reserve may be done raising interest rates.

US Treasury yields fell sharply, along with short- and long-term British and German government bond yields, continuing similar moves on Thursday. Returns move inversely with prices.

Nick Brooks, head of economic and investment research at ICG, said: “Weak but not very weak US jobs numbers for October increased investor confidence that US interest rates have peaked and that the US economy will be able to “Smooth landing.” he said in the email comments.

“Markets have responded strongly, with risk assets rising sharply and government bond yields in advanced economies falling.”

The Labor Department said on Friday that the US economy added 150,000 jobs in October. This is slightly below the Dow Jones forecast of 170,000.

Average hourly earnings, a data point closely watched in the report for inflation trends, rose 0.2% last month. This is also a smaller increase than expected. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate rose to 3.9% versus expectations of 3.8%.

-Fred Imbert

Salman Ahmed, global head of macro and strategic asset allocation at Fidelity International, explains why the US economy is not headed for a “downturn” of any kind.

IG data shows European markets opened higher, with the FTSE 100 up 26 points at 7,473, France’s CAC 40 up 22 points at 7,085, and Germany’s DAX up 53 points at 15,197.

-Jenny Reed

Service sector in China It expanded a little faster In October, according to Caixin services survey.

The PMI came in at 50.4, slightly above September’s reading of 50.2. This indicates a continued rise in service sector business activity, but the reading implies only a marginal rate of growth overall, Caixin wrote.

China’s services sector has remained in expansionary territory for 10 straight months, according to Caixin.

– Lim Hui Ji

A potential recession, high levels of inflation and uncertainty over energy markets are just some of the reasons investors are turning away from Europe at the moment – but Goldman Sachs remains positive on a number of stocks in the region.

The investment bank updated its “Condemn-Downgrade List” of stocks to buy in Europe in an October 31 note, describing it as “a curated list of our most diverse core buying ideas across our European coverage.”

The updated list includes the addition of one major stock.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

– Amala Balakrishner

Should an investor move towards bonds or stocks in the near to medium term?

Both markets have been volatile recently, which can make it a difficult choice for traders.

Stocks rose after the US Federal Reserve decided to keep interest rates steady, but Fed Chairman Jerome Powell stressed that the central bank has not begun to consider cutting interest rates, and will not do so until inflation is under control.

CNBC Pro takes a look at what Wall Street pros are saying.

Subscribers can read more here.

-Weezin Tan

Ninety percent of the total volume of shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday rose in price. It fell less than 10%. On the Nasdaq, trading volume was 82% higher while price was 18% lower.

Advancing stocks outnumbered declining issues by about 9-1 on the NYSE versus about 7-2 on the Nasdaq. The total volume of shares traded in both markets was about 15% higher than the daily average last month.

Seven of the 11 major stock sectors rose more than the S&P 500’s 1.89% gain, led by energy and real estate (both up 3.1%), and financial services (advance 2.4%). The lagging companies were led by communications services (up 0.9%), basic consumer goods (up 1.3%), and health care (up 1.6%).

In addition to the support that stocks received as a result of falling Treasury yields, prices also rose due to the weakness of the dollar. The DXY dollar index fell 0.66% on Thursday.

-Scott Schnepper