German Bunds cut gains, stocks trim losses after US jobs data

LONDON: European stocks trimmed earlier losses and German Bund futures erased gains on Friday after US data showed job growth rising solidly in January and wages rebounding.

January marked the 11th straight month of job gains above 200,000, the longest streak since 1994, in a show of underlying strength in the economy that puts a mid-year interest rate increase from the Federal Reserve back on the table.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 equity index turned flat, having been down by around 0.2 percent beforehand.

Bund futures erased earlier gains to trade 2 ticks higher on the day at 158.60.

Sterling fell sharply against the dollar after the data to $1.5259 from around $1.5338 beforehand.