EU STOCKS mostly gained for the week

European stock markets, with the exception of Germany, saw a strong weekly rise, although a Friday retreat in the wake of stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs data cut into gains driven by signs major European central banks will maintain accommodative monetary policies.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index dropped 1.3% to close at 288.31. The index extended losses as Wall Street fell after U.S. employment data reinforced expectations the Federal Reserve will move in coming months to scale back stimulus.

On Thursday, the index closed up 2.3%, or 6.69 points, to 292.15, which was the biggest one-day point and percentage gain since April 23. The index rose 1.4% for the week.

Among movers, Sky Deutschland AG jumped 4.6% after Goldman Sachs added the pay-TV provider to its conviction-buy list.

Shares of Seadrill Ltd. rose over 0.7% after an upgrade to buy from neutral at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, triggering a more than 2% gain for the Stoxx Europe 600 heavyweight offshore driller.

The rally on Thursday that came after ECB President Mario Draghi said in a news conference that interest rates in the region will remain low or could go even lower for an “extended period.”

Ahead of him, the Bank of England, with new Gov. Mark Carney at the helm, triggered the biggest rise for U.K. stocks since the autumn of 2011 after a statement from the central bank — in itself an unusual move — also eased fears stimulus will be taken away soon.

Coming off the most on Friday, the German DAX 30 index dropped 2.4% to 7,806, more than giving back the Thursday rally of more than 2%. Losses for big names such as Bayer AG and BASF SE , off 3% each, took a chunk out of the index.

Data out of Germany on Friday also showed much weaker-than-expected manufacturing orders, after a sharp drop in domestic orders disappointed those hoping to see signs of a domestic investment recovery.

Peripheral markets mostly showed losses, with Portugal’s PSI 20 index down 0.4% to 5,407.32 after gaining 3.7% on Thursday.

Portugal’s Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho appears to have kept the coalition government from collapsing, though many say the government remains in a fragile state after four days of political upheaval sparked by the departure of two ministers.

The Spanish IBEX 35 index fell 1.7% to 7,868.40, with Banco Santander SA off 2.6%. BBVA SA fell 2.4%.

Greek stocks stood out with a gain. The Athens Composite Index rose more than 2% to 840.92, trimming its weekly decline to 0.8%.

Mining stocks weighed on London. The FTSE 100 index fell 0.7% to 6,375.52. The index rallied 3% on Thursday, its biggest percentage gain since late 2011 on Thursday.

BHP Billiton PLC fell 3.6%, Glencore Xstrata PLC tumbled 6.5% and Rio Tinto PLC dropped 4.4%. 

Source of information>>