FX.co ★ European equity markets closed in positive territory on Friday

The number of jobs in the US economy in May increased by 599 thousand, according to data from the Department of Labor. Unemployment in the country fell to 5.8% last month from 6.1% in April. Experts on average expected an increase in the number of jobs in May by 650 thousand with a decrease in unemployment to 5.9%. The Wall Street Journal respondents estimated these indicators at 671 thousand and 5.9%, respectively.

In recent weeks, a number of Federal Reserve officials, including Federal Reserve Deputy Chairman Richard Clarida, have said it is time to begin discussions on cutting back on asset purchases at upcoming meetings amid the rapid recovery in the US economy following the coronavirus pandemic.

At the same time, according to the chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank (FRB) of New York, John Williams, the American economy is still quite far from the state in which it should be in order to curtail the Fed's stimulus measures. "The economy has improved and I think it is on the right track. But in my opinion, we are still far from making the significant further progress that we really need" to start slowing the pace of asset repurchases, Williams said in an interview with Yahoo. Finance.

Retail sales in the euro area in April 2021 fell by 3.1% from the previous month, according to data from the Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat). Compared to April 2020, retail sales jumped 23.9%. Analysts, on average, had forecast a 1.2% monthly decline in sales and a 25.5% annual growth, according to Trading Economics.

The composite index of the largest enterprises in the region Stoxx Europe 600 climbed 0.39% to 452.57 points.

Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.07%, Germany's DAX rose 0.39%, France's CAC 40 rose 0.12%, and Italy's FTSE MIB rose 0.46%. However, Spain's IBEX 35 was down 0.59%.

Among the growth leaders among the Stoxx Europe 600 components were shares of the French-American oilfield services company TechnipFMC Plc, which jumped 4.3%.

Vivendi SA lost 0.3% in Paris trading on news that a French media conglomerate may sell 10% of Universal Music Group's shares to a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) of American billionaire Bill Ackman. Vivendi and Akman's SPAC - Pershing Square Tontine Holdings Ltd. (PSTH) - on Friday confirmed the reports of the negotiations that appeared in the media the day before, saying that they are discussing a deal under which Universal Music will be valued at 35 billion euros.

On Friday, the securities of airlines fell noticeably, which came under pressure amid the decision of the British government to exclude Portugal from the "green" list of countries for travel (upon arrival from which there is no need to comply with the 10-day quarantine) and expand the "red" list by adding seven directions to it including Egypt and Sri Lanka.

EasyJet PLC fell 2.6%, International Consolidated Airlines Group SA fell 0.9%, Ryanair Holdings Plc fell 1.3%, Wizz Air Holdings Plc fell 3.3%.