Europe midday: Stocks come off lows after US Syria strikes
European stocks were holding lower come midday but off their weakest levels of the day, while safe-haven assets rallied amid rising geopolitical tensions after the US launched a missile attack on a Syrian airfield, as investors eyed the release of the latest non-farm payrolls report.
At 1157 BST, the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 index slipped 0.24% to 379.87, while France's CAC 40 fell 0.11% to 5,114.75 and the Dax was 0.41% lower to 12,180.75.
Meanwhile, crude oil futures were pushed higher on the back of the American strike amid worries about disruptions to supplies from the region, with West Texas Intermediate up 0.67% to $52.05 a barrel and Brent crude 0.44% firmer at $55.13.
Safe haven assets were also in demand as market participants looked for somewhere secure to park their cash, with gold and silver prices up more than 1%. The yen also racked up strong gains in an initial reaction to events in the Middle East although by noon US dollar/yen was only 0.09% lower to 110.71, versus its intraday low of 110.13.
The yellow metal rose to a fresh five-month high of $1,269 an ounce following news of the air strike.
US President Donald Trump said he ordered the missile strikes after the deadly chemical attack that took place earlier in the week.
Late on Thursday, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that there was "no doubt" Syrian President Bashar Assad was behind the poison gas attack that killed dozens of Syrian civilians.
The air strike came during a two-day summit between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, with trade and North Korea's military programme on the agenda.
Konstantinos Anthis at ADS Securities said: "Today is the first Friday of the month so non-farm payroll day, and even with news from Syria and the Trump-Xi meeting at Mar-a-Lago, the report could impact currencies. On Wednesday the ADP private sector employment data beat expectations indicating strong recruitment trends but at the same day the ISM Services report printed worse than expected - particularly the employment component of the report which printed at its lowest level since August. A strong report will reinforce the view that there will be multiple rate hikes this year.
"Overnight US missile strikes on Syria are driving investors to seek refuge in safe haven instruments: the yen and gold further appreciated against the dollar but a strong NFP report today might allow for a swift recovery of the US currency."
The non-farm payrolls report and the unemployment rate are due at 1330 BST.
Earlier, figures from Destatis showed German industrial output rose 2.2% in February from the month before, beating expectations for a 0.3% decline.
On the corporate front, German consumer goods group Henkel slipped after it said it will keep looking for acquisitions to boost its business.
French drug maker Sanofi was also on the back foot, retreating 0.75% despite receiving FDA clearance for a smartphone app with an insulin dose calculator.