European Stocks Track Global Rally as Investors Await Payrolls

• European Stocks Track Global Rally as Investors Await Payrolls

European stocks advanced for a second day, mirroring gains in global shares, as investors turned their focus to the U.S. monthly jobs report for clues on the health of the economy and the outlook for interest rates.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index was up 0.6 percent at 8:23 a.m. in London, following overnight gains in U.S. equities. The benchmark is on track to post its first weekly gain in three, up 0.6 percent.

• Banks were among the biggest gainers in the Stoxx 600, rising 1.2 percent as U.S. lenders on Thursday rebounded from a five-day decline.
• Economists polled by Bloomberg forecast that U.S. payrolls rose at a slower pace in May from a month earlier, while the unemployment rate held at 4.4 percent.
• With key global stock indexes having gone without a meaningful pullback in almost a year, investors may want to consider buying protection, BNP Paribas equity strategist Ankit Gheedia wrote in a note. Among major indexes the lender looked at, only the FTSE 100 Index hasn’t had a drawdown of 5 percent or more since the global financial crisis.