Europe Stocks Fall as Dismal Payroll Data Stoke U.S. Growth Fear
- U.S. employers added 38,000 jobs in May, missing forecasts
- BP advances after settling claims over Gulf of Mexico spill
European Stocks Turn Negative
European shares tumbled as investors considered the implications of disappointing U.S. jobs data that cast doubt on the strength of the world’s biggest economy.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index slid 0.9 percent to 341.29 at the close of trading, posting a weekly drop of 2.4 percent, its first in four. Shares erased earlier gains after the payroll data missed forecasts. Peripheral markets in Italy, Spain and Portugal fell the most. After slipping as much as 5.4 percent from an April 20 high, European shares had recovered momentum at the end of May as better-than-forecast U.S. data fueled optimism that the economy could cope with higher interest rates. But, progress stalled this week amid resurgent worries about global growth.