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European stocks stable ahead of US data

London - European stock markets steadied and the euro slipped versus the dollar on Friday with all eyes firmly on key US jobs data due ahead of the weekend.

London's FTSE 100 index of leading shares edged up 0.06% to stand at 6 339.88 points in late morning deals.

Frankfurt's DAX 30 index slipped 0.20% to 8 082.25 points and in Paris the CAC 40 nudged up 0.02% to 3 815.16.

European equity indices had ended down on Thursday after the European Central Bank (ECB) and Bank of England kept interest rates on hold and held off providing more monetary stimulus to the fragile economic recovery, dealers said.

But the economic outlook for Germany was brightening, the Bundesbank said on Friday, as improved trade data suggested Europe's biggest economy is slowly leaving its recent weakness behind it.

"The big focus on Friday is on non-farm payrolls as traditionally everyone waits for the official release of the data on US jobs," said Gekko Markets trader Anita Paluch.

"The numbers should offer some hints on the future of the Fed's QE (stimulus) "programme," she added.

Ahead of the data, the euro fell to $1.3235 from $1.3243 late in New York on Thursday.

The dollar on Friday dropped to 96.52 yen from 95.91 yen on Thursday.

At the end of a torrid week for the greenback that has seen it lose about 4% against the yen, economists said the non-farm payrolls data would determine its near-term direction.

The continued weakness of the US currency sent Tokyo stocks down again, with the Nikkei losing 0.21% to end at 12 877.53 points on Friday.

There are fears that a weak batch of job creation figures for May will highlight weakness in the US economy, fuelling another round of dollar selling.

Friday's important release will also be used to gauge the US Federal Reserve's next policy move amid expectations it is about to start pulling the plug on its monetary easing.

 

 
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