Europe Shares Close Lower… Pressured By US Data

European shares edged lower yesterday, slipping from three-month highs hit earlier in the session, as downbeat weekly jobs data from the United States heightened concerns over the pace of economic recovery.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares provisionally closed 0.2 percent lower at 1,068.98 points.

New U.S. claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week, government data showed, underscoring a weak labour market and the fragile economic recovery, weighing on U.S. stocks.

“At the moment it seems like a bit of a battle between economic news and corporate news. If the non-farm payrolls numbers tomorrow come in worse than expected, we might see a bit of a correction,” said Kishan Mandalia, sales trader at City Index.

A string of notable earnings helped give some direction to equities. British insurer Aviva (LSE: AV.L – news) surged 7.3 percent after reporting a better-than-expected rise in its half-year profit.

However, higher-than-expected profits from Barclays (LSE: BARC.L – news) and Commerzbank (Xetra: 803200 – news) failed to dispel concerns over the underlying health of Europe’s top banks. The lenders shed 4.8 and 2.3 percent respectively.

Earlier, both the Bank of England and the European Central Bank kept interest rates unchanged as expected.