Europe midday: Stocks moving higher ahead of US jobs report

(Sharecast News) - European stock markets were all putting in decent gains on Friday on a quiet day on the continent, as investors braced themselves for the US jobs report. The Stoxx 600 was up 0.63% at 444.10 by 1202 BST, with the German Dax up by 0.80% at 15,190.45 while the FTSE Mib was adding 1.06% to 27,781.85.

Consensus was that at 1330 BST the U.S. Department of Labor would report a 170,000 person gain in non-farm payrolls for the month of September, together with a 0.3% month-on-month increase in average hourly earnings.

In economic data, German factory orders were up 3.9% over the month in seasonally and calendar adjusted terms after a revised 11.3% drop in July (changed from the initial estimate of -11.7%). The consensus estimate was for a smaller rise of 1.8%.

UK house prices fell again in September as high borrowing costs continued to dent the market, according to Halifax. House prices declined by 4.7% on the year, following a 4.5% drop in August. On a month-on-month basis, house prices were down 0.4% in September following a 1.8% decline the month before.

Aviva jumps on M&A rumours

UK-listed Aviva surged on Friday after markets blog Betaville suggested in one of its 'uncooked' alerts that the insurance group was at the centre of takeover talk. Citing people following the situation, Betaville said there were rumours that Aviva has attracted interest from a company looking to purchase the business.

However, the identity of the company circling Aviva is unclear. Allianz and Axa were suggested as possible interested parties.

Volvo and Renault were making headlines after announcing they would joint launch a new company, along with logistics group CMA CGM, to produce electric vans. The auto manufacturers will each invest €300m over the next three years. Both stocks were higher early on.