Europe close: Stocks end higher but off best levels after US jobs report

European markets ended mostly higher although the surprisingly hot U.S. jobs data for January knocked them off their session highs.

"European markets have finished a choppy week on the up, shrugging off the disappointment that central banks appear to have pushed back the prospect of early rate cuts until later in the year, although today’s bumper US payrolls report has caused a retreat from the intraday highs," said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index ended the session up by 0.01% at 483.93, with all major regional indices higher alongside, save for the FTSE 100.

In parallel, the yield on the benchmark 10-year German Bund was nine basis points higher at 2.24%.

Euro/dollar was pulled down 0.79% to 1.0786.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, non-farm payrolls surged by 353,000 in January (consensus: 180,000), alongside a 0.6% month-on-month rise in average hourly earnings (consensus: 0.3%).

That was on top of big revisions to non-farm payrolls numbers for across the second half of 2023.

In European equity news, Wizz Air shares soared 10% as the budget carrier reported a sharp jump in January passenger numbers and announced the reopening of routes to the Middle East, despite the war between Israel and Hamas.