STOCK EXCHANGE: Europe is looking for direction, Airbus expects demand to remain good

European stocks were looking for direction on the last trading day of the week. The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 was down 0.2 percent, while in London the FTSE 100 was quoted at yesterday’s closing level.

In Paris, the CAC 40 opened down 0.1 percent, while in Frankfurt, the DAX was close to yesterday’s decision.

Aircraft manufacturer Airbus announced that it expects to deliver machines at the level before the corona pandemic until the foreseeable future. Airbus’s position has become easier when its US competitor Boeing has been suffering from difficulties for a long time.

The company’s shares opened up 1.8 percent in Paris.

Investors will follow the US labor market data to be announced later this evening. At half past four Finnish time, the development of non-agricultural jobs from December is published.

Economists estimate that 165,000 new jobs were created in December, while 227,000 new jobs were created in November.

Earlier this week, we received conflicting signals about the development of the labor market. According to the ADP publication describing the development of jobs in the private sector, 122,000 net new jobs were created in the United States in December, while the consensus of economist forecasts collected by the news agency Bloomberg expected 140,000 jobs.

On the other hand, the number of fresh unemployment compensation applications was lower than expected, which indicates that the economy is running in the red despite everything.

The US market is today after yesterday’s holiday. In the background is the recently deceased Jimmy Carterin funeral.

Futures predict a mixed opening for Wall Street. The S&P 500 was down 0.2 percent, while the Nasdaq 100 was down 0.3 percent. The Dow Jones was up 0.1 percent.