The European markets are mixed in afternoon trading Friday, ahead of the key monthly U.S. jobs report due later in the day. The German market has remained in positive territory throughout the session on bargain hunting, following the declines in the previous two sessions.
The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks is losing 0.03 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, is falling 0.43 percent.
The German DAX is adding 0.26 percent, while the French CAC 40 is falling 0.05 percent. UK's FTSE 100 is gaining 0.04 percent and Switzerland's SMI is declining 1.18 percent.
Among the DAX components, Commerzbank is leading the gainers by adding 2.5 percent. However, Deutsche Bank is losing 0.4 percent.
Automakers Volkswagen, BMW and Daimler are gaining between 0.7 percent and 0.4 percent.
Diversified utilities RWE and E.ON are losing 2.6 percent and 2.2 percent, respectively.
JPMorgan raised its price target on Allianz to 109 euros from 106 euros. However, the insurer is falling 0.8 percent.
Merck is down 0.2 percent. UBS lifted its price target on the drugmaker to 76 euros from 66 euros.
Unicredit raised its price target on Henkel to 54 euros from 46 euros. The stock, however, is down 0.2 percent.
In Paris, cement giant Lafarge, steel maker ArcelorMittal as well as builders Vinci and Bouygues are moderately lower.
Credit Suisse raised its price target on Axa to 19.50 euros from 18.50 euros. The insurer is down 0.4 percent.
Carmaker Peugeot is adding 2.2 percent. Renault is rising 0.65 percent.
Banks BNP Paribas, Societe Generale and Credit Agricole are gaining. Natixis is falling 0.6 percent.
In London, miners Rio Tinto, Eurasian Natural Resources, BHP Billiton and Vedanta Resources are falling between 1.1 percent and 0.5 percent.
Royal Bank of Scotland is falling 1.2 percent. Barclays and Lloyds Banking Group are declining 0.6 percent each.
Chipmaker Autonomy is gaining 3 percent. The company said it closed the acquisition of some assets of Iron Mountain's digital division earlier than anticipated, due to unexpectedly rapid regulatory approvals.
British Land Co. is adding 1.4 percent. Hammerson is gaining 1.1 percent and Land Securities Group is rising 0.8 percent.
In economic news, Germany's private sector growth eased in May, signaling the weakest expansion in activity since October 2010, data released by Markit Economics and BME showed. Separately, Markit Economics said eurozone private sector growth eased to a five-month low in May.
Meanwhile, UK service sector expanded for a fifth straight month in May, but at a slower pace than in the previous month, data from Markit Economics revealed.
Across Asia/Pacific, most major markets settled lower. Australia's All Ordinaries trimmed 0.35 percent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng retreated 1.31 percent and Japan's Nikkei 225 lost 0.66 percent.
However, China's Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.85 percent. The country's private sector economy expanded at a faster pace in May on the back of strong growth in services output, while inflation cooled to a multi-month low amid Beijing's aggressive policy tightening.
In the U.S., futures point to a lower open on Wall Street. In the previous session, the Nasdaq edged up 0.2 percent, while the Dow fell 0.3 percent and the S&P 500 slipped 0.1 percent.
In the commodity space, crude for July delivery is sliding $0.81 to $99.59 per barrel, while gold is losing $5.3 to $1527.4 a troy ounce.
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May 08, 2026 15:50 ET Manufacturing and services sector survey results and labor market data from main economies were the highlight on the economics news front this week. Factory orders and jobs report dominated the news flow in the U.S. Similarly, industrial production data from German garnered attention in Europe. In Asia, purchasing managers’ survey results from China and the central bank decision from Australia were in focus.