European markets open to close: Stoxx, Fed, BOE, earnings

European and U.S. stocks and bonds rallied Friday after U.S. payrolls came in weaker than anticipated, further fueling expectations that the Federal Reserve could be through with rate hikes.

U.S. Treasury yields fell sharply, along with both short- and long-dated U.K. and German government bond yields, extending similar moves on Thursday. Yields move inversely to prices.

“The weak but not too weak U.S. October payrolls numbers have increased investors’ confidence that U.S. interest rates have peaked and the US economy will be able to pull off a soft landing,” to Nick Brooks, head of economic and investment research at ICG, said in emailed comments.

“Markets have reacted strongly, with risk assets rising sharply and developed economy government bonds yields dropping.”

The Labor Department said Friday that the U.S. economy added 150,000 in October. That’s slightly below a Dow Jones forecast of 170,000.

Average hourly earnings, a closely watched data point in the report for inflation trends, rose 0.2% last month. That’s also a smaller-than-expected increase. The unemployment, meanwhile, climbed to 3.9% versus a forecast of 3.8%.

— Fred Imbert

Salman Ahmed, global head of macro and strategic asset allocation at Fidelity International, explains why the U.S. economy is not heading for a “landing” of any kind.

IG data shows European markets opening 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.

— Jenni Reid

China’s service sector expanded at a slightly faster pace in October, according to the Caixin services survey.

The purchasing managers index came in at 50.4, just above September’s reading of 50.2. Caixin wrote that this pointed to a sustained rise in service sector business activity, but the reading meant only a marginal rate of growth overall.

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

— Lim Hui Jie

A potential recession, high inflation levels and uncertainty around energy markets are just some reasons why investors are steering clear of Europe right now – but Goldman Sachs remains positive on a number of stocks in the region.

The investment bank updated its “conviction list – directors’ cut” stocks to buy in Europe in an Oct. 31 note, describing it as “a curated list of our most differentiated fundamental Buy ideas across our European coverage.”

The updated list includes one key stock addition.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Amala Balakrishner

Should an investor go for bonds or stocks in the near to medium term?

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

Stocks rallied after the U.S. Federal Reserve’s decision to keep interest rates steady, but Fed Chair Jerome Powell stressed that the central bank hasn’t begun considering a rate cut, and won’t until inflation is under control.

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

Subscribers can read more here.

— Weizhen Tan

Ninety percent of the entire volume of shares that changed hands on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday advanced in price. Less than 10% declined. On the Nasdaq Stock Market, some 82% of volume was higher while less than 18% was lower in price.

Advancing stocks outnumbered declining issues by almost 9-1 on the New York Stock Exchange versus about 7-2 on the Nasdaq. Total volume of shares traded on both markets was about 15% above the past month’s daily average.

Seven of the main 11 stock sectors climbed more than the S&P 500’s 1.89% gain, led by energy and real estate (both up 3.1%), and financials (ahead 2.4%). Laggards were led by communication services (up 0.9%), consumer staples (up 1.3%) and health care (higher by 1.6%).

In addition to the boost to stocks that stemmed from retreating Treasury yields, prices were also lifted by a weaker dollar. The DXY dollar index fell 0.66% Thursday.

— Scott Schnipper