Major European markets close with losses and the euro advances

FRANKFURT, Germany.—This Friday, the main European markets closed the day with losses , highlighting the selective index FTSE MIB , of the Milan Stock Exchange , which fell 0.91% , while the euro rose above 1.1750 dollars .

The euro rose sharply above $1.1750 today following the rise in US unemployment in August , which has been an argument for the Federal Reserve (Fed) to lower interest rates more quickly on several occasions this year.

The euro was trading at $1.1730 around 3:00 p.m. GMT, down from $1.1637 in the final hours of European foreign exchange trading the previous day.

The European Central Bank (ECB) today set the euro's reference exchange rate at $1.1697.

Gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 0.1% in the eurozone in the second quarter of the year, despite a 0.3% contraction in Germany.

The single currency was traded within a fluctuation band between $1.1652 and $1.1757.

The Milan Stock Exchange closed in the red on Friday, with its FTSE MIB index falling 0.91% to 41,607.81 points , affected by the release of weak employment data in the United States.

Meanwhile, the FTSE Italia All-Share general index also fell 0.86% to 44,147.33 points.

During the session, more than 423 million shares were traded, valued at approximately €3.034 billion.

Oil and gas company Saipem led the day's declines, down 3.23%, ahead of metals company Tenaris (-3.04%), banking company Unicredit (-2.39%), and Italian luxury fashion brand Moncler (-2.39%).

Bucking the trend, the companies that closed higher were STMicroelectronics, which grew by 3.82%, Interpump Group (2.52%), the hearing aid manufacturer Amplifon (1.23%) and the tire manufacturer Pirelli (1.07%).

Frankfurt's DAX 40 fell 0.73% on concerns about the US economy following rising unemployment and weak job creation in August, resulting in a cumulative decline of 1.3% this week.

The Frankfurt Stock Exchange 's selective index fell 0.73% to 23,596.98 points, and has accumulated a year-to-date gain of approximately 18%.

The prospect of lower interest rates in the US is driving expectations of increased demand for loans, as they will be cheaper to repay, and for investments. For now, German industrial orders continue to fall for the third consecutive month.

The German manufacturing industry's order backlog fell by 2.9% in July compared to the previous month, the third consecutive decline, and by 3.4% year-on-year.

Laboratory equipment manufacturer Sartorius recovered 2.6% to €193.20, after falling sharply on Thursday.

Real estate company Vonovia gained 2.5% to €26.77, benefiting from lower interest rates as refinancing costs fell, while E.on rose 1.7% to €15.17.

Semiconductor manufacturer Infineon gained 1% to €31.57, boosted by strong results and prospects from US chipmaker Broadcom, but business software maker SAP fell 2.1% to €228.25.

Sporting goods manufacturer Adidas advanced 1.5% to €175.70, despite poor results and a downward revision to forecasts from US yoga clothing company Lululemon.

The technology and industrial group Siemens fell 1.8% to €226, and its subsidiary Siemens Energy, the parent company of Gamesa, fell 1.7% to €87.58.

The Spanish stock market lost 0.45% this Friday, although it held at 14,800 points , affected by the US unemployment figures, which rose by one-tenth in August to 4.3%, and the poor performance of Wall Street.

The Spanish market's main index, the IBEX 35 , fell 67.4 points, or 0.45%, to close at 14,850 . It fell 0.57% for the week and rose 28.08% for the year.

The Spanish index opened higher, then showed some hesitation during the first few hours of trading, before later turning negative, given the poor performance on Wall Street after analyzing the spike in unemployment in the U.S. in August, a month in which 22,000 new jobs were created (far from the 75,000 forecast).

Among the major stocks, Inditex fell 1.41%, the third-biggest loser on the table; followed by BBVA, which fell 1.3%, the fourth-biggest loser; Banco Santander, which fell 1.18%, the fifth-biggest loser; Repsol, which fell 0.94%, the seventh-biggest loser; and Iberdrola, which fell 0.1%. Telefónica closed higher (0.8%).

The main index of the Paris Stock Exchange , the CAC-40 , closed in the red this Friday, losing 0.31% , in the last trading session before the vote of confidence to which Prime Minister François Bayrou will be subjected on Monday, September 8, which will surely mean his fall.

The CAC-40 closed at 7,674.78 points, in a session with 3.2 billion shares traded. On a weekly basis, the index also closed with a slight decline of -0.38%.

Investor concerns about the US economy were one of the main factors behind Friday's decline.

Leading the declines on the CAC-40 were Société Générale (-1.92%), BNP Paribas (-1.34%), and Crédit Agricole (-1.20%). Oil company TotalEnergies followed the three banks (-1.78%).

Stocks such as semiconductor manufacturer STMicroelectronics, which gained 3.78%, avoided further declines on the Parisian index. Luxury group Kering gained 2.02%.

The London Stock Exchange fell 0.09% following the British government reshuffle, precipitated by the resignation of Angela Rayner , the former deputy prime minister, with insurance companies, oil companies, and banks among the main losers.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer , a Labour member, was forced to reshuffle his cabinet after the departure of his deputy after it was revealed that he had not paid enough tax when he bought a flat in the coastal town of Hove, in southern England. In this context, the London benchmark index, the FTSE 100, lost 8.66 points to 9,208.21 , while the secondary index, the FTSE 250 - which groups together smaller, generally British, companies - advanced 0.47%, or 100.86 points, to 21,575.54.

In terms of losses, the hardest hit were auto insurance company Admiral, which fell 2.96%, followed by oil company BP, which lost 2.64%, and banking company Barclays, which lost 2.48%.

The list of gainers was led by betting and gaming firm Entain, which gained 3.35%, along with construction firm Berkeley Group Holdings, which advanced 3.02%, and industrial equipment company Ashtead Group, which added 2.82%.

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