European stock markets fell on Friday, with luxury goods stocks among the worst performers after Richemont warned of tough times ahead.
Shares in Swiss agriculture company Syngenta rose more than 3 per cent after media reports of a possible deal with DuPont.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index was down by 0.4 per cent in early session trading, while the euro zone’s blue-chip Euro STOXX 50 index fell 0.4 per cent. Germany’s DAX declined 0.1 per cent.
Richemont fell 7 per cent after the owner of the Cartier brand warned of a challenging second half after first-half net profits grew less than expected, as strong demand for high-end jewellery could not make up for weaker luxury watch sales in Hong Kong.
Richemont dragged down the shares of its rivals, with Swatch falling 5 per cent and LVMH 3.3 per cent.
According to data from Thomson Reuters StarMine, 52 per cent of companies on the European STOXX 600 index have beaten or met market forecasts with their third quarter results so far, while earnings guidance has been cut for the fourth quarter.
“Earnings have been very mixed so far. The European markets are looking quite sluggish at the moment, and I would be inclined to sell into any reasonable rally,” said Berkeley Futures’ associate director Richard Griffiths.
Many investors were also focusing on US jobs data due at 1.30pm GMT for a sense of whether the US Federal Reserve might raise interest rates next month.
Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen and New York Fed president William Dudley said this week the United States was ready for higher interest rates if upcoming economic data justified them.
The median forecast for October nonfarm payrolls in a Reuters poll of economists is an increase of 180,000, above growth of 142,000 in September.
The FTSEurofirst and DAX are both up around 10 per cent since the start of 2015, although both are also below their peaks for the year after signs of a slowdown in China, the world’s second-biggest economy, knocked back markets in the third quarter.
