French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Thursday he and German Chancellor Angela Merkel would meet on Monday to outline joint proposals to put to a Dec. 9 European Union summit, seen as make-or-break for the 12-year-old single currency.
Sarkozy called for a new treaty incorporating tougher budget discipline, a European Monetary Fund to support countries in difficulty and decisions in the euro area taken by majority vote instead of unanimity. Futures for Euro STOXX 50 futures, Germany's DAX and France's CAC were 0.8 to 1 percent higher. Financial spreadbetters earlier predicted Britain's FTSE 100 to gain as much as 0.6 percent. Investors awaited the U.S. employment report for November, due at 1330 GMT.
Economists forecast 122,000 jobs were created in November, compared with 80,000 in October. The unemployment rate is seen at 9.0 percent, unchanged from October.
"The big figure that many will be looking out for is the nonfarm payrolls and despite yesterday's climb in weekly jobless claims, the outlook remains bullish given both the bumper ADP payroll survey reading and also the fact that wider U.S. economic data is underlining the theme of recovery too," said Terry Pratt, trader at IG Markets.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares fell 0.6 percent to 976.02 points on Thursday, but has gained 7.5 percent this week helped by a coordinated action by leading central banks to inject liquidity into financial markets strained by the euro zone's debt crisis.
The index, which is still down 13 percent this year, is expected to face resistance at around 986.98 points, its 23.6 percent Fibonacci Retracement of a rise during September and October. The index tried twice this week to break the level, but failed, charts showed.
COMPANY NEWS
BANKS
Europe's banking watchdogs have agreed to refrain from a further tightening of the "stress test" rules for the region's banks, who are struggling to boost the capital buffers by a mid-2012 deadline, Handelsblatt reported.
BP
BP has agreed to sell its Canadian natural gas liquids business to Plains All American Pipeline for $1.67 billion as part of an effort to raise $45 billion to pay for its Gulf of Mexico oil spill in 2010.
MTU AERO ENGINES
The aircraft engine maker has made an indicative offer worth more than 800 million euros ($1.1 billion) for the aerospace engine component business of Swedish group Volvo, Financial Times Deutschland reported, citing sources.
DEUTSCHE TELEKOM
The German government, Deutsche Telekom AG's biggest shareholder, is growing increasingly worried the company's disposal of its T-Mobile USA subsidiary may run aground over antitrust concerns, the Financial Times reported
on Thursday.
AREVA
The nuclear reactor maker hopes to provide Poland with technology for its first nuclear power plant and Paris could support Warsaw in the European Union in return for any deal, the company's top representative for Poland said.
UBS
The bank removed its head of risk, Maureen Miskovic, on Thursday after less than a year in the job and 11 weeks after a $2 billion trading scandal rocked the Swiss bank.
RWE
RWE said it has struck a deal with 23 local utilities over additional construction costs for a coal-fired power station in Hamm, Germany, that is already under construction and now expected to come onto the network in 2013, later than planned. Related news
BARCLAYS
The bank faces an 82 million euro ($110 million) lawsuit in London as CF Partners claims the bank misused confidential information from a potential client to clinch the takeover of a Swedish carbon trading company in 2010, the Financial Times reported on Friday.
RIO TINTO
Rio Tinto said it has completed the sale of the Colowyo Mine, a thermal coal mine in Western Colorado to Western Fuels-Colorado LLC. The global miner also said it would invest an additional $2.7 billion to modernise its Kitimat aluminium smelter in Canada's British Columbia.
EADS
The European Union said it had met a deadline for complying with a WTO ruling against billions of euros of illegal subsidies for aircraft maker Airbus and outlined its actions in a letter to the United States and the World Trade Organization.
THYSSENKRUPP
A U.S. private equity firm has bid for the Italian stainless steel assets of ThyssenKrupp, a move that may propel a structural change in the European stainless steel industry, industry sources told Reuters.
VOLKSWAGEN
VW of America said it sold 28,412 vehicles in November, nearly 41 percent above the year-earlier month. U.S. sales at VW's Audi unit rose 3.6 percent to 9,700 units.For the latest updates on the stock market, visit Stock Market Today For the latest updates PRESS CTR + D or visit Stock Market news Today
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