European stocks attempted to push higher on Friday, erasing early losses, though Nasdaq-100 futures continued to point south after the worst selloff for Wall Street since early June. Spanish banks drove up the financial sector on merger talk.
After tumbling 1.4% in a late-day slide, the SXXP, +0.62% was up 0.2% to 366.66. The index opened 0.9% lower. The PX1, +0.82% and DAX, +0.40% rose 0.1% and 0.3% each, while the PX1, +0.82% rose 0.2%.
The DJIA, -2.77% tumbled by more than 800 points on Thursday, driven by a tech-led selloff that wiped 5% off the COMP, -4.96%. Along with the SPX, -3.51%, all three indexes marked the worst one-day drop since June 11. Stock futures hinted at modest gains for Friday, apart from techs, with COMP, -4.96% off 0.4%.
Investors are waiting for important U.S. jobs data. Economists polled by MarketWatch expect 1.2 million jobs were added in August, but that hiring has slowed compared with early summer.
In Europe, data showed German manufacturing orders losing steam in July, though they rose for the third-straight month.
Shares of CaixaBank SA CABK, +12.91% surged 11% and Bankia SA BKIA, +24.62% climbed 28% after the Spanish banks said late Thursday that they are in talks over a possible merger, potentially the biggest tieup in the country’s banking sector in years.
That filtered through to gains for the rest of the sector, with shares of Sabadell SA SAB, +10.14% rising 11% and Bankinter BKT, +6.27% up 6%. Banco Santander SA SAN, -0.91% SAN, +3.50% and BBVA, +1.42% BBVA, +4.07% shares rose over 3% each.
One notable element of Thursday’s trade was that the standout advancers this year were among the worst performers. Some of that selling continued Friday, with communications SINCH, -0.37% dropping 3.5% after falling nearly 10% on Thursday. But delivery service firm Delivery Hero AB DHER, +1.53% rebounded with a near 2% gain after an 8% prior-day slump.
Elsewhere, shares of Ryanair Holdings PLC RYA, +3.98% rose 1.6%.The cut-rate airline said it raised €400 million ($474.1 million) via a slightly discounted share placing late Thursday, airline seeks to preserve cash and boost it financial position. Shares of rival EZJ, +2.60% climbed 1.2%.
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