U.S. jobs report, Orsted update

LONDON — European stock markets declined Friday, as investors assessed a key U.S. jobs report showing a weaker-than-expected labor market.

The regional Stoxx 600 index closed down 0.2%, giving up gains from earlier in the day.

The August jobs report out Friday showed nonfarm payrolls increased by just 22,000 for the month, well below the 75,000 expected by economists surveyed by Dow Jones.

Declines in the U.S. dollar provided an initial sign that investors saw continued support for an upcoming cut, with the euro and sterling both last trading around 0.8% higher against the greenback.

Shares of Orsted rose 2.8% after the Danish wind farm developer secured shareholder approval for its emergency $9.4 billion rights issue. It comes amid U.S. President Donald Trump’s sustained attacks on offshore wind projects.

Earlier in the week, Orsted sued the Trump administration in a bid to restart construction on a blocked offshore wind farm in New England.

The company also lowered its full-year earnings guidance to between 24 billion Danish kroner ($3.75 billion) and 27 billion Danish kroner, citing lower-than-normal offshore wind speeds across its offshore portfolio. Analysts at RBC Capital Markets said it was “a negative announcement … as we await the rights issue prospectus which is expected early next week.”

Norwegian oil giant Equinor on Monday said it would participate in Orsted’s planned capital raise with a contribution of almost $1 billion, and retain its 10% ownership in the company.

Elsewhere, British retail sales volumes rose by 0.6% month-on-month in July, ahead of the 0.2% gain forecast by economists in a Reuters poll, while data from lender Halifax showed house prices gained by 0.3% in August.

Paul Dales, chief U.K. economist at Capital Economics, said the latest prints showed the U.K. economy had some “decent momentum” at the start of the third quarter, but that talk of tax rises in the November budget may spur households to be more cautious.

— CNBC’s Jeff Cox and Sam Meredith contributed to this report.